Hagakure
by DarkNexus
Summary: Konohagakure has always been a city of reclusive clans and deadly secrets, but when one man with a nearly forgotten art changes the path of the village's shy young Hyuuga heiress, those secrets begin to unravel like a poorly woven cloth.
1. The Man who Wields the Sakabato

Disclamer: I do not own the rights to Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, or any of their related characters the Character Himura Seijuro is an OC of my design. There now on with the show

**-)::(-** **_The Man who Wields the Sakabatou_** **-)::(-**

The border towns of fire country were not particularly impressive as a location to visit. Just a smattering of houses and shops on the few major roads out of the forests patrolled by the Shinobi of Konoha. Even so, the small town on the road leading towards waterfall and rock had become the site of a major problem, one that had the hidden village sending a team of Jonin to the backwater hamlet on the tale of a rouge swordsman mercenary from the last Shinobi War. The four elite warriors of the Leaf traveled as quickly as they could through the brush and trees, but with their particular allotment of members this cell was anything but Stealthy...

"HA! Rival Kakashi! It seems our race to the site of our mission is still on! Truly this shall be a PASSIONATE ADVENTURE!" Gai was, as always, not one for stealth if he got excited, and he was easily excited whenever the Hokage made the mistake of pairing He and Kakashi together. But then, this mission revolved around speed not stealth, so Gai's outburst mattered little in the logistical scheme of things. In the emotional balance of his teammates however, it was very much a hindrance.

"Gai! SHUT UP!" Inuzuka Tsume yelled from the lead position of the group, Kuromaru growling lightly in agreement. She and her canine partner had been assigned to this mission to track down this "swordsman" because of their clans' skill in tracking, not for her patience with the green clad Jonin behind her. Kakashi for his part, simply shook his head and focused on the distant lazy columns of smoke from the village chimneys he could see on the horizon. He had better things to do - in his opinion - than chase after a phantom from the last war. With a sigh he glanced to check on the teams final member, and its medic, Shizune. She was the only member of the team beside himself who was not - in Kakashi's own opinion - completely insane, and to his chagrin, she was also the least talkative it seemed. Considering the fact that she had been deployed near this swordsman's area of influence at the time of the war, he couldn't blame her, if it had been one of the ninjas of Rock he was certain he'd be just as tense. It was unfortunate that she had never actually seen the man, but at least she knew more than the rest of the group. Kakashi frowned, for Shizune this would be one hell of a mission, even if she didn't show it to the rest of them. After all he thought, to her, its not every day you go after a legend like the Kiritaki Batousai, still, if he had had his way, he'd be asleep at home right now.

It was nearly midday by the time the group had arrived at the small trading post at the Taki-Konoha border, and the team was currently at a local dango stand discussing their next move.

"Gai, Tsume, I think it would be best if you two and Kuromaru search the woods around the town, and Shizune and I will take the village itself," Kakashi calmly stated from behind his little orange book.

Tsume's reaction was... understandably sour, "What?! You can't be serious Kakashi! Why are you trying to pair me up with him?"

Gai for his part, objected as well, "RIVAL! Surely you do not intend to distance yourself from our grand competition? How will I be able to prove my FIRES OF YOUTH?"

Shizune rubbed the bridge of her nose as she listened to the debate, in truth she agreed with Kakashi, but at the moment she lacked the will to plunge herself into the argument. They were Jonin, not children after all, and she for one was going to act the part. Tuning out the three way argument next to her in the shop, she focused on the description she had all but memorized back when she was just a chunin and her father was still alive. '_Silver hair in a loose ponytail, a katana with a simple black saya, and a cross shaped tattoo on his cheek' _It wasn't much to go on she realized, and she cursed her luck for not having ever seen the Batousai in battle. Glancing out the door of the dango stand she nearly fell out of her seat as she caught sight of a mop of silver hair pass out of view and down the road. She stopped herself from running straight after the unknown person with gray hair and turned towards Kakashi. "you three can finish this discussion, if you don't mind, id like to take in the layout of the town,"

Kakashi quickly stood and responded, "thats not a bad Idea, Gai, Tsume, we'll be right back"

As the two left the bar Shizune stole a glance to Kakashi "you tricked them."

He looked up from his book and smiled at her, his visible eye closing in mirth "Oh? I guess I did, imagine that."

Shizune sighed in defeat and scanned the crowd ahead for signs of a silver haired man other than the idiot beside her. She was rewarded with the sight of a man with silver hair, a black saya visible in the folds of his obi, conversing with a fruit stand owner as he examined the stall's apples. Shizune motioned to Kakashi, who nodded his recognition and the two moved closer to their possible target.

"Kakashi, I think thats him, the legendary Kiritaki Batousai" Shizune whispered.

With a second nod Kakashi moved in to apprehend the swordsman. The man himself however didn't seem to notice, or didn't care that he was being stalked by two Konoha Jonin and continued to talk to aged shopkeeper, "this one thanks you again for the hospitality Oji-san, that I do. These apples are quite..."

he didn't get farther in his statements as he jumped up to avoid being grabbed from behind by Kakashi, who stumbled forward in surprise. 'S_hunshin? No there was no chakra signature. Its more like Gai's inhuman speed, but there isn't a crater or sign of disruption on the ground... whats going on?' _the one eyed Jonin thought with a start, as he spun to follow the swordsman as he landed on top of a second fruit stand, which collapsed under his weight leaving the poor man in a heap on the ground.

"Oro..." the gray haired man groaned incoherently. Shizune looked crestfallen at this sudden ignoble situation their target was in, "This is the legendary Mist of the Waterfall? The swordsman who protected Takigakure during the second Shinobi war when she was still weakened from the first war?"

Kakashi looked less effected, the signs of rot on the support beams of the cart were quite clear to him, "Shizune, this man is skilled, the footwork I was using when i went to grab him is essentially the same stance I use for my Raikiri, and he dodged it without even turning to look at me."

he stooped down to look the man in the eye, "Oi, who are you?" "My name, is Himura Seijuro that it is" the silver haired samurai said as he looked up, "Why are you looking for the Kiritaki Batousai?"

Kakashi glared at him before responding. "A wealthy Merchant gave Konohagakure a request to stop a group of bandits lead by a man calling himself Kiritaki Batousai here in this area."

The old man from the Apple cart gave a somewhat indignant reply to that, "That Merchant, his name was Hebereke Mujina wasn't it? I figured it was only a matter of time before that greedy fool went this far."

Seijuro and the Konoha Jonin looked at the man in surprise, "Oji-san..." Seijuro muttered. The man smiled at them "I must sadly inform you good Shinobi of Konoha that you have been played for fools, please gather your other team-members and meet me at the mayor's house, you as well Himura-san. It seems we have much to discuss."

Several hours later saw the four Jonin and Seijuro at the mayor's house with the old apple salesman. "Oji-san what did you mean that the merchant had tricked Konoha?" The old man took a long drag from a clay pipe and began to tell the story of Hebereke Mujina...

"I am the mayor of this town here on the border, good shinobi, Himura-san... and as such I deal with many of the merchants who travel through here, most are grain peddlers and fruit merchants, but this road is also often the chosen path of Ore traders from rock and from countries outside of the the shinobi nations. For about four months now a group of bandits have been plaguing the trade caravans traveling around and through the town. It didn't matter whether it was a caravan of iron ore or one of freshly harvested rice, the bandits took ever last item of value. All the local merchants in town have fallen on hard times, all except Mujina. He's never been more than a local Sake merchant, but recently his funds have grown larger and larger, despite the fact that not one of his shipments has made it through."

Kakashi frowned, "wait, how can he be making a profit without goods to sell?" Tsume and Shizune both nodded in agreement.

"Yes Master Mayor, my Rival is correct how can he have such a Profit?" Gai voiced.

The old man frowned "Loose lips sink ships they say, Mujina's men have been partying at the bars in town, bragging about easy pay and Mujina's new hired help. One of his men even went into detail about Mujina gaining recent ties to a smuggling and black market dealer in Kumo. As far as I can guess, Mujina concocted the tale of Kiritaki leading the bandits to distance himself from them. Thus when he hired you, he assumed you'd kill his men, and he could slip away to start the whole scam again. Of course, their was one complication in this plan of his. I was in Taki during the war, I saw first hand how Kiritaki acted, this just does not ring true to the style of that man."

Seijuro gave a small smile at this which Kakashi noted, but ignored for the time being as he asked his next question of the elderly mayor, "So then, what was Kiritaki like?"

the silence that hung for the next few minutes as the old man sat before them pipe in hand was downright palpable. "Kenshin" at this utterance from the old man Seijuro's head jerked upwards quite suddenly to look at the elder intensely. Kakashi was the first respond verbally though. "ken shin? 'Heart of sword' thats the translation right?" The old man merely nodded "aye one with his blade was he, and it an embodiment of his ideals in turn. And that sword... I have never seen the like." the old man looked into the distance, his eyes glassy from visions of the past. "A sword that cannot kill, Sakabatou, the reversed blade sword."

Shizune gave voice to the thing the Konoha nin wanted answered next. "Reversed blade sword?"

To her surprise it was Seijuro who gave the answer "A Sakabatou is a katana who's edge is on its back side, so that the blunt of the sword strikes the foe when it is used normally, it is a design of sword made solely to turn batoujutsu and Iaido into non lethal techniques."

"quite an accurate description young man," the elderly man said with a knowing smile "Kiritaki would never plunder the weak or murder, thus I can declare this 'Batousai' you hunt a false one. Now what will you do?"

Gai and Kakashi shared a glance. Both had noticed the subtle actions between the old man and Seijuro, but now was not the time to pursue that. "YOSH! Even though our Batousai is false, we must still save the town from the vile darkness of the attacks! What say you, Rival Kakashi!"

"huh? My opinion Gai?" Kakashi pulled up his Hitai-ate and stared back at Gai with both his own eye and the one that was his living epitaph of Obito. "we hunt down this false false Swordsman and stop the bandits, then we take care of Mujina."

"Yeah!" was Tsume's reply, and Shizune merely nodded.

To their surprise Seijuro rose and with a nod to the old mayor he spoke, his voice and mannerism different from earlier, even as he did so, the faint waver of a dispelling henge revealed a large cross shaped tattoo across his cheek. "Then I will aid you as well, I have no attachment to the name Batousai, all the same, I cannot allow another to wear my title and sully my name. So Let us go and see this copycat bandit and be done with it."

Kakashi and Gai both gave the man a nod of agreement, Shizune looked both surprised and pleased with herself at the same time, she had been right after all! Tsume just looked stunned. After a few minutes more and some general instructions on how to find the bandit camp from the old mayor - whom they learned was named Houshi - the five warriors and one dog set out to find the false Batousai. As he watched them go Houshi bit down on one of his apples that he grew and sold as a hobby, smiling slightly to himself as he sent a silent farewell to his younger friend.

"_So Seijuro, you've taken on the mantle of Rurouni again, It would seem fate has more in store for you yet. Maybe you'll find that apprentice you keep saying you want to take on, with you being the last of the Himura line, and unable to have children of your own, it seems your hope for the survival of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu lies on whomever you take on as an heir... now, to deal with that fool Mujina, these old bones of mine can aid you at least in that old friend."_


	2. The Sword that Cleaves the Shadows

i dont own Naruto, Ruroni Kenshin, and or any of the caracters therein Himura Seijuro is an OC of my design

now back to the show

**-)::(-** _**The Sword that Cleaves the Shadows**_ **-)::(-**

It was well past midnight before the four shinobi, one canine, and wayward samurai finally found the section of woodlands that held the Bandits that had been plaguing the villagers. Alas, fate seemed set on dealing harsh blows to them for, tracking the trails of loot and broken tree limbs, the six stumbled upon a scene that was not what they were expecting to find. Heavy wooden stockades studded with random spikes to discourage climbing ringed what could very well be considered a small, for lack of a better term, "hidden village". Guard posts supported by sturdy wood towers – or in a few places large trees – dotted the walls perimeter, providing warning against intruders. As Kakashi, Tsume and Kuromaru, Gai, Shizune, and Seijuro gazed on from the cover of the tree line – which had been cut back at least thirty yards from the wall – contingents of well armed and armored men paced battlements and the grounds within. Kakashi stared deeper into the camp, thankful for his friend Obito's legacy as he gazed with Sharingan precision at the men and women within the walls.

"what the... that can't be..." Kakashi muttered to himself in shock, the others quickly turning attention towards him in response.

"Hatake-San?" Seijuro's voice cut back across the darkness.

The chimeric eyed jonin's response earned startled gasps from his teammates "There are Kumo Nin just like Houshi-Dono mentioned, but, there are other shinobi, I can see some Oto Nin, probably chunin... and ..."

"And what Kakashi?" Tsume's voice held a slight whine to it that made Seijuro wince in fear of being heard

"there are ..." Kakashi paused, "Root operatives in the center of the compound"

"na-nani?" was the general response from his fellow Konoha warriors, a simple "Oro?" sufficed for Seijuro

Root, that rogue element of ninja from within Konohagakure's own populace, it had long been viewed by the Hokage and Elder Council as seditious and by the General Shinobi Council as questionable, but to openly consort with Sound and Kumo Nin was bold, even for Danzo. Something was definitely going on, and It seemed Mujina pulled a deeper trawl-line than even Houshi had assumed. This changed everything, and at the same time made the seemingly pointless attacks of the "bandits" take on a sinister new light. Their attacks weren't just random pillaging of trade, it was a push to force Konoha into war, most likely with Stone to the north, then Cloud, Sound, and Danzo could swoop in to gather the pieces, like vultures to carrion.

"Kakashi, what do you propose we do in this situation? We certainly cannot let Root gain such a strong foothold on Konoha's interests, and certainly when relations with Stone are at risk." Gai, having shifted to seriousness in this situation, asks his cyclopean teammate

"Gai is right," Tsume continued, "If Oto and Kumo both have shinobi in this camp then the raids were likely some form of set-up"

Shizune frowned, a thoughtful expression on her face, "Yes, that seems the most likely scenario, but why would Danzo risk discovery?"

"hmmn," Kakashi frowned behind his mask, Shizune was right, why would Danzo risk discovery, it didn't make sense... unless... "Gai, do you recognize any of the Root agents?"

"A few of them yes, mostly from Yamato-san's reports to Tsunade-sama." The green beast frowned, "All Jonin at the least. Why do you ask Kakashi?"

"its just a hunch... but those Root agents are most likely Kage-bunshin..."

Gai Nodded sagely "Ah, of course that way if the base is attacked, the agents – safe back in Konoha, know who attacked them, and if they are Leaf shinobi, will be prepared to silence them upon return"

Kakashi nodded, '_so that was it eh? Use bunshin as a sort of remote sensor system, fairly ingenious, and there were enough agents committed that it would be impossible to take out all of the clones from beyond visual range._' The scarecrow frowned, '_how would they break into that camp now, they'd need a trump card, a one man army, a legend... wait...'_Kakashi turned to face Seijuro, his eyes set sternly. "Oi, Batousai, think you could take out this camp?"

there was no response, at least not a verbal one, just a moment of staring, and then a nod from the samurai. Seijuro stood up and strode purposefully out of the forest's cover and into the clearing in front of the compound's opened gates. The guards for their part reacted quite quickly to the sudden appearance of an armed man outside the gate.

"INTRUDER!!!" well, let it never be said that efficiency implies originality. The guards lobbed kunai at the intruding swordsman, who faded into an afterimage as the tiny black blades sunk harmlessly into the soft earth.

"what the hell?! Where'd he go" the garrison's watch was panicking now and as they scanned the ground in confusion a voice echoed out from above.

"OVER HERE!" Seijuro rocketed down from the sky, his sword gleaming in the moonlight as he brought its blunt edge down into the shoulder of one of the Root Bunshins stationed in the gate's guard-tower, which as kage-bunshin are apt to do, exploded in a spectacular plume of white smoke. The cloud of dust from the bunshin's disruption swirled to follow the young Himura's blade as he brought it back in an arc to subdue the two bandits that had shared the lookout post with the bunshin. Twisting to the side Seijuro ducked behind a roof support as a volley of shuriken from the ground inside the compound whirled past him.

"You aren't very good shots that you aren't!" the young samurai yelled at his opponents below.

"Oh yeah?" one of the Oto Nin raised his arm at the tower and unleashed a burst of sound and the structure, hoping to catch the offending warrior in his roost.

Seijuro merely smirked and leaped of the tower towards the pulse, his sword held above him. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu - Ryūtsuisen" the konoha Nin in the tree line and the bandits and rogue Nin in the camp stared in shock as with a loud concussive burst Seijuro cut through the sonic boom with his sword.

"So thats why they called him Batousai eh Kakashi?" Gai said in awe as he and the other Konoha Nin watched from the forest's edge.

As Seijuro landed he slid to the left in a spiraling arc to take out a pair of Kumo Chunin who had been in the middle of what he assumed would have been a pair of Fuuton Jutsu had their hands not met Sakabatou with a bone-jarring crunch that left both men collapsed to the ground grasping shattered digits to their chest. Leaning back smoothly to dodge a rather shoddily thrown Fuuma Shuriken he used his momentum to throw himself into a back flip onto the inside of the Palisade wall. Rebounding off of the smooth inner surface of the wall (why would the inside need to be covered in spikes like the outside?) Seijuro launched into another smaller Ryūtsuisen, this time directed towards the Sound Nin who had attempted to destroy the tower earlier. The Oto Nin collapsed in on himself from shock as the reversed-blade sword struck hard into his shoulder. Seijuro frowned as he counted the remaining ninja in his head. "_they've all moved in close to me to try and trap me... six 'Ne' ... four Oto... two Kumo left... looks like I have to use Sanosuke-dono's technique to end this quickly"_

One of the root members grimaced as he spoke in a harsh tone to Seijuro "what are you doing here? We were told to expect Kakashi and his group of friends, not a bastard Kensai who doesn't know to leave well enough alone." the man leveled a katana at Seijuro and smirked "don't know what you planned on doing here, but you're going to die here samurai" with that the gathered ninja charged at Seijuro from all sides, intent on trapping the swordsman between them. Seijuro whipped the Sakabatou above his head with one hand and drove it into the ground in front of him blade first with a shout. "Futae no Kiwami!" the result is instantaneous as a shockwave of thrown rock and soil disperses the 'Ne' kage bunshin and toss the Kumo and Oto Nin into the air like chaff. In an instant Kakashi and the others are at Seijuro's side and quickly dispatch or round up the simple bandits that now cowered without their Ninja guardians. The 'Ne' warrior with the sword however slowly climbed to his feet eyes focused on Seijuro. "damn you..."

blinking in shock Seijuro Leaned forward to get a better look at the man, confusion evident on his face "Oro? You aren't a bunshin?"

"Keh! Like Danzo would trust Mujina to leave only bunshin here. Danzo had plans for this village you bastard, and now you've ruined it"

"plans?" Kakashi asked looking up from where he had been tying up a hostage with the mans own scarf.

"Kakashi..." the 'Ne' growled out "I knew Tsunade would send you. Where did you find this bastar-hurrgck!" the green clad arm of Maito Gai appeared around the man's throat before he could finish his curse

"YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED MY RIVAL'S QUESTION! AND YOU CURSE SEIJURO-SAN, THAT IS MOST UNYOUTHFUL... now answer it and you may be alive in the morning" the last part of Gai's statement was spoken calmly and barely above a whisper. The effect was obvious on the entrapped ninja as he began to explain the plan in a panicked rush

"It's... It's the Ore! Danzo found out that the empires in the lands beyond Tsuki have begun looking for places to trade _wootz ore_ in the ninja nations. Danzo wanted to control the major ore trade roads so that he could determine whether or not Konoha could acquire that ore. He promised Mujina a part of the profits... but I was ordered this morning to kill him. I was just waiting to get rid of you bakas and then... AACCK!"

Gai made a show of frowning thoughtfully "hmn... he seems to have passed out from lack of air" he paused as he assumed 'victorious hero pose 3-b' "YOSH! LET US RETURN TO THE VILLAGE AND REPORT OUR SUCCESS TO HOUSHI-DONO!"


	3. To Save a Legacy

**-)::(- To Save a Legacy -)::(-**

Konoha – 2 days later

Tsunade read over Kakashi's report for the third time and still could not properly fathom how the situation had gotten so infuriatingly complicated. Danzo had gotten incredibly lucky, the ninja who had been physically assigned to the camp had turned out to have a weak heart and had died of shock upon learning that the Batousai had come to assist Kakashi and the others. Without the captured 'Ne' operative, Tsunade didn't have the evidence to push the issue before the Shinobi Council. To complicate the situation, Danzo would know that the camp had been raided, although Kakashi's quick thinking and the assistance of Himura Seijuro would keep Danzo unaware of his groups exposure. She knew It was a small victory, but Tsunade would take what she could get.

A soft knock on the door startled her away from her musings and she quickly hid the scroll she had been reading, "Yes?" she called as calmly as she could.

Shizune's head poked out from behind the door "Ah... Seijuro-san wanted to see you, Tsunade-sama"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow in interest, "Oh? The Batousai? Is he here now Shizune?"

The younger medic-nin nodded slightly, "Hai, he's in the lobby, He says its quite important"

With a nod, Tsunade waved her hand dismissively, "Show him in, Shizune"

Shizune nodded and left, leaving Tsunade alone with her thoughts once more. She glanced over at the letter from Jiraiya on her desk and sighed, a mere month since Naruto and her old team-mate left for their three year training trip and the wayward pair were already getting into trouble it seemed. Her old teammate had taken it upon himself to attempt to teach Naruto the ins and outs of the practice of writing professionally. Jiraiya's hastily scrawled P.S. At the end of the letter was especially interesting, the young boy had apparently though that the exercise was so infuriating that he had sealed Jiraiya in their hotel room for two days using a sealing system the toad sage had taught him just days before. The situation was resolved when it was explained to Naruto that his sensei did not in fact want him to help write icha icha novels.

Tsunade was released from her musings by a soft knock on her door, "This one was told he could come in..."

Tsunade started in her chair but cheerily replied, "Yes, please, come in Seijuro-san"

the young samurai bowed politely to Tsunade and took a seat in the chair before the hokage's desk, "This one is most grateful that you have chosen to here his plea and plight, that he is"

Tsunade waved her hand dismissively, "Please Seijuro-san no need to be so proper, and yes I'm willing to hear you out, not that i can guarantee that i will agree to your request mind you," she leaned back in her chair and waited as the young warrior began to tell his tale

"I am the last of my line Tsunade-sama," he began, "and I have no means of producing an heir of my own to pass on my learning, I am sterile – I have been so since birth the doctors tell me. You must understand I am not seeking a miracle cure, I am willing to let my bloodline end with my life, but the Himura Clan Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu I must pass on to the next generation, therefore I humbly ask you for a suitable apprentice Hokage-sama."

Tsunade was shocked, a skilled warrior was offering his secrets to Konoha of his own volition, such a event was rare at best and usually involved expensive compensations to the ronin in question. She knew this was an opportunity to great to pass by, but as Hokage she had to ensure that Seijuro's family style passed to a ninja under her control who could must effectively use it. She drew a blank scroll and pen from her desk and looked up at the swordsman, "Well then, Himura was it? Tell me what you can about this style so i can determine who might best fit as an apprentice."

Seijuro leaned back in his chair and starred absently into the air as he began his story. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is an ancient style that was taught by a kensei called Hiko Seijuro for over twelve generations, During an era of political upheaval long ago, the then current Hiko Seijuro taught a young orphan he had named Himura Kenshin. Kenshin fought in the wars using the Batoujutsu of Hiten Mitsurugi to defeat his opponents. When a cruel twist of the war caused him to inadvertently slay his wife, he swore an oath to never kill another human being. But he couldn't escape the violence and revenge seekers that followed in his shadows so he had a friend of his skilled in smithy work forge a unique weapon for him, the Sakabatou-no-ken. Himura Kenshin eventually used this sword to earn himself his happy life, and the Himura clan are his descendants. We follow the oath of Kenshin to a great degree, although we are allowed to kill in times of great need. Any apprentice i take Hokage-sama must be willing to follow these rules"

Tsunade lowered her pen onto her desk and rolled the scroll carefully up as she considered Seijuro's unusual style and the moral and emotional requirements that it would impose on any trainee that she might pass on to Seijuro's care. She knew Naruto was out of the question due to time and location restraints, and any of her older shinobi would not have the time to learn such a complex style. As she reached for her sake jug to help clear her head, her eyes landed on a small message scroll from one of the few shinobi council members she trusted, he had requested help in training his child from her, but with training Sakura she had not had the time. Considering the nature of the child in question's personality, the Hiten Mitsurugi would likely be just what was needed, oh yes she was a genius. "Himura-san, I have just the person" she reached over for her intercom button with a sly smile on her face, "Shizune, send for Hyuuga Hinata, and tell her father I have the answer to his problem"


	4. The Princess Destined to hold the blade

_**-)(- The Princess Destined to hold the Sakabatou -)(-**_

Hinata Hyuuga was not having the best of days, her father had informed her in private that the Clan's elders were getting aggravated by his refusal to place the juin jutsu on her. Her day had been further worsened by the departure of her hero and crush Naruto Uzumaki with Jiraiya on a three year training mission. Although her cousin Neji now cared for her, and she knew deep down so did her father, she couldn't help but feel that she was letting her family down. She frowned to herself as she sat at the small table of a cafe that served cinnamon rolls, she couldn't think about that now. She had to find a way to get strong, for Naruto. She never wanted him to have to fight for his life because of her ever again. She nibbled on one of her sweet pastries and sighed; now that Naruto had left for a three year training trip with Jiraiya, how would she prove herself to him now? So engrossed in her mental battle was she that the ANBU who had appeared next to her could feel the tumult like a cold aura. The Spec Ops ninja spoke to break the tension and make her presence known.

"Miss Hyuuga, Hokage-sama requests your presence at the tower with all possible haste, I have been told to offer escort."

Hinata dropped her dessert in surprise and looked up at the purple haired ANBU looking down at her from behind the porcelain mask. "Ano, why does Tsunade-sama need me?"

The Woman tilted her head to one side, much like a cat, before answering, "I am not privy to that information Hinata-san, please come with me."

The Tower had, by the time the two arrived, become a flurry of activity that made the young heiress dizzy. Crowds of villagers outside muttered amongst themselves about a mysterious swordsman in town, while groups of shinobi whispered about some form of deal made for a trade of techniques and knowledge. Walking into the third floor lobby behind the unknown female ANBU, Hinata was surprised to see her cousin Neji sitting in one of the waiting chairs near the Hokage's office door. Neji nodded to the ANBU and bowed to Hinata, "Hiashi-Sama is already with Tsunade-Sama, they are waiting in the office."

The ANBU nodded and opened the door for the now almost terrified young Hyuuga heir. Tsunade looked up from her deliberations with Hiashi and a man Hinata did not recognize and smiled, "Ah! There she is! Come in Hinata, Yugao thank you for bringing her."

Yugao bowed and left silently as Hinata timidly approached the desk under the gaze of her father and the unknown man. She took in her Father's expression first, it was not what she had come to expect from him, he was smiling slightly at her, and a hint of self-satisfaction was evident in his eyes. The other man's eyes were more passive, she could tell he was estimating her skill from the calculating look, but he bore no hint of scorn or disdain towards her, she liked it better than the way the Clan elders sized her up, but it was still unsettling. Tsunade was the last one she examined and as usual the woman was grinning as only she or Naruto could... really Hinata believed that they must have been related.

Hiashi spoke first, his voice weighted heavily with sadness that Hinata had never heard in it before, "Hinata, I have not done as a should to you as a father, I should have done more for you and for Hanabi." He paused as look of steely determination set upon his face, "you are not weak daughter, you are merely... disposed to a different type of strength. I became frustrated in your training because as a teacher I could not teach that strength, and the strength I possessed was not yours."

Hinata blinked back tears of shock, "Tou-san... whats going on?"

It was Tsunade however not Hiashi who answered, "What is going on Hinata is that you have been selected, because of your personality and physical and mental peculiarities to receive instruction in a dying style of ken-jutsu. Himura-san here will be training you away from the village for an indeterminate time. As this is his clan's secrets he is offering to the village of his own free will, the Hyuuga elders have agreed to this. Free gifts of clan secrets are rare and hardly ever refused." Tsunade took a small drink from a tokiri and continued "Your father has agreed to this arrangement as he believes that it will help you unlock your potential in ways the juuken training has not. Himura for his part was very particular as to the type of pupil that he would agree to teach, and you," here she poked the flustered heir on the nose with a smirk, "Are just what he asked for. Now go and get prepared to leave Himura will accompany you, I need to speak to your Father a while longer" Hinata nodded dumbly and left hurriedly.

Waiting a few minutes to ensure the exit of the young kunoichi and her new tutor before continuing, Tsunade leaned back in her chair and glared at Hiashi "Now that thats done with, mind telling me how you knew about that piece of information you were flaunting around before your daughter got here. S class secrets cant be thrown around like that, Hyuuga."

Hiashi smirked back at the hokage, "which secret would that have been Hokage-sama? The one concerning the fact that the Yondaime was your son? Or was it the fact that Naruto is your Grandchild, Minato's and Kushina's son? Or Was it the arrangement Tsuki and Kushina had concerning Hinata and Naruto?"

Tsunade sighed "The second one - I know you knew that Minato was Dan and mine's son, you were, after all, genin teammates. As to the Arrangement, my daughter-in-law never discussed it with me, so I had no knowledge of it and it hardly counts as a S-rank secret, though I'm sure your daughter will enjoy that surprise."

Hiashi nodded "then it is how I knew Naruto was a Namikaze? That is quite simple, I helped with the sealing of the Kyuubi, the suplamentary sealing system is a Hakke-Shiki after all. So to answer your question Hokage-sama Minato entrusted me with the truth from the start."

Tsunade leveled a steely gaze on Hiashi that made him quite uncomfortable, remembering that same look from a much younger Tsunade as she berated her son and himself for their latest escapade through the village. His mind snapping back to memories of punishments and brutal training sessions under Jiraiya once he got wind of the fiasco from his old teammate. He was suddenly glad his Sensei was on a three year trek far away from the village.

"I dont like that you were left out of the reports, but I suspect my Sensei had a part in that." Tsunade groaned out while draining her tokiri, "Very well, go then, you have a daughter to see off" Hiashi bowed and left, grateful to have escaped intact.

Hinata walked slowly through the streets next to the man who would be her teacher now, or so Hokage-sama had said. Suddenly she thought of team 8, how would this effect them? "A-ano... what about my teammates?"

Seijuro stopped and looked at her with a strange childlike expresion of confusion, "Oro?"

Hinata blinked back at the strange man, did he not know about her teammates? "K-Kiba-kun and Sh-Shino-kun, my teammates in team 8, and K-Kurenai-Sensei."

Seijuro adopted a thinking pose and then smiled at her speaking for the first time since she had seen him. "this one thinks we should go tell them about your mission that he does."


	5. the way of Samurai: Hidden in Leaves

_I do not, nor have I ever, owned Naruto or Rurouni Kenshin._

_The Character Himura Seijuro is of my own construction._

**-)::(- Hagakure: the way of Samurai; hidden in the leaves -)::(-**

It was summer, three years to the day that the young Naruto had left with Jiraiya to train. And three years since Hinata had left for training with the last of the Himura Clan. Konoha was calm and quiet in the absence of its orange dervish, but that wouldn't last. As several travelers were making their way along the roads leading to the village gate. A tall teenage boy in a black and orange outfit, with a strange white coat laughed as he talked to a purple haired girl walking beside him, a bedraggled white haired man following close behind.

"Man, it was really a surprise to see you Hinata! I didn't know you were on a training trip as well!" the blond smiled at his companion, who shook her head with a smile.

"you did leave before me Naruto-kun, how would you have known?"

He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "thats true... still, I never would have guessed you'd decide to be a samurai, thats so cool!" he pointed at the sword hanging at her side and pantomimed a few sword swings for effect. Hinata smiled back at him and laughed lightly amazed at how easily she was talking to him. They had run into each other that morning as the two groups were returning to Konoha. Her sensei had left her with Jiraiya and departed, saying he needed to return home quickly, to aid Houshi in a business deal with a nearby town. She didn't mind, not when she could enjoy Naruto's company so fully. She knew she was blushing slightly still - Naruto had commented on it, but she supposed that was just the way things would be.

"Naruto-kun, what did you train in?" Hinata noticed him pause, a look of worry on his face.

"Er ... well, I trained to be strong enough to protect everyone, so I mostly worked on strength and control of the stuff I knew before I left, like Rasengan." He seemed nervous and agitated by the subject, so Hinata let it drop. He was quick to recover however. "Oi! Look! Its the gate!"

Sure enough the green gate that shielded the entrance to the village stood before them, Hinata couldn't help but smile as Naruto ran ahead laughing merrily. Jiraiya walked up next to her as she watched the boy, "that gaki, how he managed to get your attention is a mystery to me. But... I'm glad he has someone who cares, even if he doesn't know" She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, his expression was one of regret, and sadness. "I... should have been there for him, I knew his family ... Tsunade too ... but, we though he would be happy ..."

Hinata looked at the sennin, he had always seemed so energetic, it was strange to see him so sullen. She refuted his obvious worries, "Ano, Naruto-kun is happy now, I don't know what happened in the past that you are worried about, but I know Naruto-kun wouldn't want you to worry about it."

Jiraiya laughed hollowly, "I know, but ... I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you some of it … I was, no, I am his godfather. A lot of help I was to him eh? Never there to help him as a kid, only sending money through sensei to aid him with bills. I don't think I'll be able to face the boy's parents when I meet them in the afterlife." Hinata didn't say anything to him for a moment, the weight of his confession laying hard on her mind.

She had a sudden thought and turned to the aged ninja, "why not tell him now? He's not the kind to hold a grudge."

Jiraiya handed the identification papers of the trio to the gate guards on duty before replying as he and Hinata moved on into the Village. "Its not that I don't want to tell him I'm his godfather... its that doing so would mean having to tell him who his parents are."

Hinata whirled around to face the man, her face stern and her pearl eyes cold, "And why would you not want to tell him that?"

Jiraiya blinked at the young kunoichi before he exploded into laughter, "That gaki sure got a good one in you! … who said anything about not wanting to tell him!" he grew serious once more "the fact is, his parentage is a guarded secret – S class. I cant tell him, or you for that matter, without Tsunade's approval. Its for his own protection against his parents enemies."

Hinata watched as the man walked over to were Naruto stood standing on a telephone pole yelling his return to their home. She smiled as she watched the boy shout down at his white-haired sensei, the white jacket she had given him fluttering dramatically in the wind. He jumped down and turned to face the group of gennin she recognized as Konohamaru's team approaching from the left. As he conversed with the younger ninja she could see the large kanji emblazoned on the coat's back - "_Aku_". Seijuro had given her the coat telling her it belonged to, "_whoever she thought best exemplified the idea of a bare-knuckle fighter of justice - who she wanted as an ally_". Giving it to Naruto had never even been a question, not that she had told him the full extent of her reasoning. He had reacted poorly to the decorations of the thing at first, but walking around with "_Aku_" on one's back is a bit odd. So she had told him the story of the jackets original owner. Naruto had instantly been inspired by the tale of Sagara Sanosuke, and had put the jacket on immediately at that point, declaring that he would were it every day – she had no doubt that he was serious.

She paused as she thought back to Jiraiya's statements, fingering the Tsuba of her Sakabatou-no-ken in thought. An S class secret? Who could possibly be so important that their existence as his parents could endanger him? Frowning she decided she would have to investigate this further.

"Oi! Hinata! Look!" Naruto's voice cut into her thoughts and she looked over to him in confusion

"Oro?" ... so she may have picked up some habits from her teacher, she mused to herself, that happens. She followed the direction of Naruto's obviously pointing finger to the Hokage Monument, and to the completed face of Tsunade on the mountainside right next to the Yondaime's. She blinked and activated her Byakugan, comparing the Yondaime's visage to Naruto's own. It was so obvious! The face, the hair... she thought back to pictures in their textbooks at the academy. Even that smile was the same! And... she frowned, he had died on that night, the Kyubi's attack. So that was what Jiraiya meant, she mused; the orphan of a Kage. Entire nations might try and kill Naruto for petty revenge. She shook the thoughts out of her head and turned smiling to face Naruto "Oh, Tsunade-sama is up there now! I guess that really makes it official"

Naruto grinned impishly "yeah, but they got it all wrong."

Hinata blinked at him in confusion. "Oro? It looks like her to me..."

Naruto shook his head still smiling, "exactly, its based off the appearance she uses for that gen-jutsu of hers. She's really a lot older looking than that. You'd think they'd make her at least be honest for that."

Jiraiya appeared next to them and smirked "brat, be glad she's not here to hear you say that... she'd punt you across the village."

Naruto laughed, "well then its a good thing she wasn't, right Ero-Sennin?"he grabbed Hinata by the hand - the girl blushing in surprise at the contact - and ran towards the heart of town. "come on! We still have to report in!" Jiraiya shook his head and followed after them, already planning ways to make fun of the young blond and samurai girl for this later.

Their arrival at the tower was not without incident, a chunin in his late twenties, one Hinata had never met before attempted to deny Naruto entry into the tower. She had wasted no time in threatening the man's position – Hyuuga eyes made such bluffs all too easy. Naruto was astounded by this new assertiveness Hinata had, and he decided he wanted to train with her later to see what she had learned in her time with Seijuro. But before they could do any training, they had to face the Hokage and give there reports as to the results of their training.

They walked into the third story lobby together, and noticed several things right off the bat that had the two of them amused and in Hinata's case rather surprised. Across from the Hokage's office near the briefing room stood Konohamaru and his teammates chatting happily to another genin team that Naruto didn't recognize and Hinata knew only one of them – her sister Hanabi. Udon and Moegi were talking to the two unknown members of the other team, but Konohamaru was focused on the younger Hyuuga. Hinata blinked and had to then stifle a laugh, as she recognized some very familiar behaviors coming from her young sister, who has poking her fingers together and blushing slightly at Konohamaru's attention.

Naruto leaned over to Hinata and whispered "Oi, Hinata, do you know who that Hyuuga girl is?"

Hinata nodded, whispering back "Hai, she's my imouto, Hanabi" That seemed to startle Naruto and he paused, looking between the two girls with an odd pondering look in his eyes. "Naruto-kun whats wrong?"

he looked at Hinata startled and smiled, "um, nothing … it looks like your sister has a crush on Konohamaru though."

Hinata sweat dropped at this remark, '_he recognizes what that behavior meant when Hanabi-chan does it around Konohamaru? But not when I do it around him?_' She smiled however and nodded lightly to him, "maybe, Hanabi has always been more outgoing than me, so I'm surprised she so shy about it."

Jiraiya laughed from behind them, "Just goes to show that you and your sister are a lot more like your father than you know... I remember when little Hiashi first met Tsuki, he stumbled over his words for years; it was rather amusing."

Hinata blinked "you knew my father when he was our age, Jiraiya-sama?" the Sennin laughed, "knew him? I was his sensei! He was on the genin team of the fourth! He and the fourth were close friends back then."

They turned as one to enter the Godaime's office and report; meeting an amusing, if not altogether unsurprising scene. Tsunade was leaned back in her chair, a folder draped across her face to hide her eyes from the light. A slight but rhythmic snoring could be heard from under the folder. Naruto grinned as he read the folder's label - "_Finances and Budget Allocation" _and underneath that had been scrawled in Shizune's handwriting, "_Not for use against personal debt – this means you sensei." _Hinata coughed into her hand to try and wake her, but Jiraiya laughed slightly, "that wouldn't wake Tsunade-hime from a daydream much less one of her naps... I swear she's narcoleptic... now if we were to open this." He produced a rather expensive looking tokurri of sake from his vest and opened it. Smirking lightly he waved the opened bottle under his teammate's nose, and did not react in the slightest when Tsunade's hand snapped up reflexively to grab the bottle.

"Mmm... is that Kiri's Shiroutsuki brand?" Tsunade mumbled as she sat up in her chair and removed the folder to be greeted by the sight of her teammate and the two genin. "Heh, about time you brought me something worthwhile you idiot." she smirked as she taunted Jiraiya. "and if the Sake is as valuable as this..." she gestured to Naruto and Hinata "I might just give you a raise."

Naruto laughed "I don't think you'd want to do that Baa-chan, you know he'd just use it to spy on women."

Hinata blinked as Tsunade erupted into laughter. "you're probably right... so Jiraiya, how did the training go"

Jiraiya gave Tsunade a strange look that did not go without notice by Hinata, "It went as well as expected, the kid's got spunk, reminds me of my old student."

Naruto beamed at the comparison to the Yondaime – and Hinata realized that the two adults were using a sort of code. Jiraiya had essentially told Tsunade "_He's really taking after his dad_" Hinata felt strangely like she was spying on them. They had no idea she had figured out the secret of Naruto's parentage – well his paternal half anyway, and were saying things that were obvious to anyone who knew the truth... then again, she thought, maybe they want the people who figure it out to know. Whatever the reasoning she realized she had stumbled upon a realm she had not be entirely prepared for. Three years ago she would have folded in on herself and drowned in her fears and misgivings about her inability to help Naruto. She smiled to herself; this was not three years ago, and she was far from the timid wall-flower she had been. Tsunade pulled her out of her internal revelry when she addressed the young heiress, "So miss Hyuuga, I know how Naruto's Training went, how about telling me a bit of how yours went.

Hinata smiled at the Godaime serenely and bowed, "Seijuro-Shishou has declared me a full master of Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryu, Tsunade-sama. He sends his thanks for your trust, and has promised to put in a good word for Konoha in his travels."

Tsunade grinned to herself, it seemed her gamble with the young girl had paid off, and the Hyuuga heiress had gained what Hiashi couldn't get her to possess via the clan's own methods – confidence. The young pearl-eyed samurai that stood before her was calm, focused, and most importantly, did not stutter or show any sign of fear.

Tsunade smiled with that fox-like grin of hers, "Well, then, once my new apprentice gets here, we'll have to do a little test to see what you three can do."

Hinata nodded, but Naruto excitedly questioned, "New apprentice? I didn't know you took on an apprentice! Who is it?"

Tsunade smiled, "why your old teammate Sakura" and as for the person testing you.

"That would be me."

Naruto jumped and whirled to face the new voice that had spoken directly behind him. "Kakashi-sensei! So you're going to test us eh? Awesome!"

Kakashi smiled at the young genin "you've grown Naruto. Nice coat by the way. Did Jiraiya get it for you?"

Naruto laughed happily "No, Hinata-chan gave it to me."

Kakashi shared a look with Tsunade and Jiraiya, "Did she now? Thats nice. Well the time for talking is over, lets head to training ground 7. I told Sakura to meet us there at noon."

Naruto frowned, "Its 2:30... you're late, and you made us late too! Common Hinata!" he grabbed the surprised girl's wrist again and sped off for the training grounds. Hinata smiled to herself as she ran, it wasn't much yet, but Naruto was beginning to notice her. She could hardly wait to show him what she could do.


	6. Team 7: Samurai, Trickster, and Healer

A.N. I dont own Naruto, Kenshin, or any other anime or manga used herein – Seijuro Himura is a OC of my creation. Now on to chapter 6

-)::(- Team 7: the Samurai, The Trickster, and the Healer -)::(-

Hinata had to hold back a laugh as she rounded a corner in the market district as she followed Naruto to training ground 7; he had lost none of his energy in his three year trip that much was certain, but then again, she figured she'd have been sad if he had. She ducked to avoid a beam jutting out from some construction and bounded forward to keep pace with her blond friend. People turned as they ran by and stared in confusion and awe, unsure of who was running past them but impressed by the speed. In a way, this was what she had always wanted, Hinata mused; to be running along side Naruto as an equal, a partner, without the crippling shyness she had once been plagued with. It was, exciting was the only word she could give it, and a part of her didn't want it to end. Still she wanted to show what she could now do as well, so she smiled as they landed in the clearing that made of training ground seven and were greeted by their fellow gennin.

"Naruto! Hinata! Its about time you two got here, Kakashi-sensei said the test was scheduled for noon!" Sakura smiled as she approached the pair. "Still, you got here before our lazy teacher so I guess you aren't late." She wrapped the two in a quick group hug, "Nice to see you two again, how were the training trips?"

Hinata smiled and let Naruto launch into an animated recounting of the morning and a flamboyant explanation of how cool Hinata now was. When Sakura pressed him for info on what he had learned himself, Hinata saw him again go quiet and avoid direct conversation on the matter. Unlike Hinata however, Sakura continued to press the poor boy for at least a small snippet of info. "Come on Naruto, how are we going to be able to work together if we don't know each others skills!"

Hinata blinked and turned to the pink haired girl, "What do you mean by that, Sakura-san?"

Sakura turned to Hinata, "Wait… Shishou didn't tell you? Kiba and Shino made it to Chunin while you two were away, and so have Ino and Chouji, the three of us are the only ones of our class that are still gennin, they're combining us into a single cell. The three of us are officially a team from now on."

Naruto grinned madly, "Cool! That's awesome! Baa-chan told us in her office that you were training under her to be a Med-nin, is that right Sakura?"

Sakura nodded and waved him off, "I didn't want to be a weak link in my team, so I took the time you were gone to get stronger that's all"

Hinata gave her a small nod as she spoke, "We all decided to get stronger, so we can protect the ones we care about."

Naruto looked between the two girls and grinned, "Because that's our nindo… right Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi stepped out of the tree line and nodded, "You've gotten better at detecting people Naruto, nice work"

Naruto shrugged and stated flatly "Uzumaki family trait, or so Ero-sennin tells me… won't tell me how he knew that though."

Kakashi frowned, "it's because your family had dangerous enemies, you have enough to worry about because of akatsuki, and he doesn't want to add to your problems."

Hinata raised an eyebrow at the one-eyed jonin, so he knew as well? She supposed that only made sense, he was the Yondaime's gennin pupil… but then she frowned, they had been talking about an Uzumaki clan, that would have been Naruto's mother, not his father, who was a Namikaze, did that mean his mother was famous as well? She had never heard of anyone else with that family name, but Naruto had used the word clan. "I didn't know you had a clan Naruto-kun"

Naruto shook his head, "I don't, not really, Ero-sennin says they all died in some war with Iwa, my mom was the last he says, well until me anyway," He gave a wry grin, but then looked away with an odd look on his face. Hinata frowned, '_he knows more than Jiraiya and Kakashi thinks he does… but how, and what?_'

Kakashi cleared his throat and drew the attention of the gennin as he produced a set of bells from his vest with a jingle "so here's the deal, I've been told to test your skills so we're going to do the Bell test to see how far you've progressed in three years. Since you are already gennin, there are enough bells for everyone, no hidden test of teamwork this time, though I trust you will work as a team" he shook the three bells for emphasis, "you'll have until noon tomorrow to subdue me, you can use whatever methods you wish." He held up a timer as he continued, "this is an assessment so there isn't a pass or fail like a normal test, still you'll need to come at me with the intent to kill if you want to impress the judges. The test begins… now" with that Kakashi vanished with a shunshin.

Naruto turned to Hinata, "any sign of him Hinata-chan?"

Activating her Byakugan and scanning the area she soon pointed ahead of the group, "He's underground about 30 meters ahead of us"

Sakura grinned and stepped forward, pulling on a pair of black gloves, "here let me take the opening swing!" as Sakura punched the ground it seemed to give way beneath and around them like fracturing glass, exposing a rather startled looking Kakashi now desperately trying to dodge the shifting debris, Sakura grinned and joked in a sickeningly sweet voice, "found you, Kakashi-sensei"

Hinata saw him attempting to use a large boulder as a shield and smirked as she drew her sakabatou, "Do-ryu-sen" Kakashi's eyes widened further as a shockwave shattered his cover into a deadly barrage of shrapnel. Naruto grinned at the now exposed jonin and tossed a few kunai at him while running through a set of hand signs the jonin could swear he had seen somewhere before.

Naruto however merely stated, "Kage Kunai no jutsu" and suddenly the air was black with blades. Kakashi parried a few of the projectiles before noticing Naruto was still running through hand signs.

'wait,' Kakashi thought 'that looks like the hand signs for… shit!'

he had not time to think further as the kunai in the air exploded in smoke to reveal shadow clones while Naruto yelled, "Bunshin Daibakuha."

When the smoke from Naruto's barrage of explosive clones cleared the three genin stood staring across the ravine they had created at a very winded Kakashi, his Hite-ate raised to reveal the Sharingan eye. "Maa, you three sure aren't planning to go easy on me are you? If it hadn't been for Obito's eye I'd probably be down and out."

The jonin nodded before running through a barrage of hand-signs faster than the three could follow before continuing, "lesson one, Ninjutsu, doton: Doryudan no jutsu" And then it was an all out dance of parries and dodges as the gennin avoided the bullets of rock and earth Kakashi's jutsu was now barraging them with. Kakashi smiled to himself as he watched the three, Sakura was simply punching the rocks into dust, Hinata was slicing them in half with the back of her Sakabatou, and Naruto was using one handed Rasengans to shatter the projectiles that came in his direction.

Meanwhile in the trees outside the clearing Tsunade and Jiraiya watched the events below unfold, Jiraiya whistled as a tremor shook the clearing, "What have you been feeding that girl? She's stronger than you were at that age!"

Tsunade grinned, "She's something alright, but what about the Gaki? He seems to be doing a good job giving orders, not something I was expecting out of him."

Jiraiya nodded, "The kid asked me one day to teach him how to be a better team-leader. Said the Kyuubi told him a Hokage who isn't good at leading others is a worthless joke and that he should learn to be like the Yondaime if he wants to be the next Hokage."

Tsunade stared at Jiraiya, "The Kyuubi said that to him? That sounds almost like…"

Jiraiya nodded, a look of pensive nervousness on his features, "Like she's finally come back to here senses, Yeah I thought so too, but the Gaki hasn't said anything, so I don't know if she's revealed any of the truth to him. Still, I told him about his 'blood limit' once it started to show, no specifics on family, but he knows Uzumaki are, well were, from Uzu-no-Kuni."

Jiraiya knocked a rock out of the air that had flown in their direction as Tsunade spoke, "If she has come back to us, I think its time we told him the truth, all of it. I know you agree that he deserves to know about his past, it's only fair."

Jiraiya nodded, "Agreed, but what about his teammates, do we tell them that their lovable idiot is the son of the Yondaime hokage, Minato Namikaze and the…" he paused looking down at the three as Naruto was explaining some form of plan to his two teammates, "… and that his mother was the leader of the guardians of the shrine of Inari-Daimyojin, the Uzumaki-no-youko, Kushina Uzumaki… the Kyuubi-no-youko."

Tsunade shook her head, "we have to trust them to do the right thing, we can't keep hiding him from them; Shikamaru already started asking questions while you two were gone. They are adults now; they can handle the idea of him being a hanyou." Jiraiya nodded as the two leap off the tree to follow after the gennin as they sped off after their foe.

Naruto's eyes scanned the forest ahead of him for any signs of his prey, ears alert to the slightest shift in the breeze, or rustle of leaves. Beside him Sakura and Hinata were also scanning the area for signs of the target. Hinata pointed in a direction and Sakura kicked the ground sending a small shockwave down field. Naruto grinned evilly as his ears picked up a slight yelp of surprise from Kakashi in the distance. "found him nice work Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan."

Naruto ran forward and the two girls followed close behind, "Naruto," Sakura yelled forward, "are you sure this will work? I mean it seems a bit… stupid for Kakashi to fall for something like this."

Naruto merely grinned as he honed in on the trail with his nose and ears, sure they weren't as good as the wolf-blooded Inuzukas', but there is something to be said for a Kitsune's ears he thought. He shook his head as he felt the reactive presence of Kyuubi in him, she was going to let him have it for being so pragmatic about his abilities, but he needed to focus on the task at hand, so he forced the link down. Walking out into the field calmly, he greeted his waiting sensei who had sat down on a tree stump to read his Icha-Icha novel. "Yo, Kakashi-sensei, still reading that old junk eh?"

Kakashi looked up at his student and laughed, "Still don't appreciate Jiraiya-sama's work, eh? Your loss."

Naruto shook his head, a fox-like grin crossing his features, "Its not that, its just that I have this gift I was supposed to give you earlier…"

he produced a small green book from his jacket and held it up to the wide unbelieving eyes of his sensei, who yelped out his startled response, "Is that a pre-release copy of the new Icha-Icha?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, it's an autographed pre-release copy of the new Icha-Icha novel, with a limited edition cover, and a poster for the Icha-Icha movie."

Kakashi's excitement was clearly visible as Naruto tossed the new book over to him, "Thank you Naruto, this is an excellent gift, I will have to start…" He suddenly yelped in surprise when the bright green book transformed into Sakura in front of his face.

He dodged to the left to avoid the sledgehammer like hay maker of the pink haired medic only to see Hinata appear in front of him her eyes hard as she settled into a batou-jutsu stance, "Gomen, Kakashi-sensei, this will most likely bruise. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Batou-jutsu Ougi…"

and then suddenly she had appeared right next to him, her blade just barely parried by Kakashi's kunai thanks to his Sharingan eye. They ground their blades against each others for a few fractions of a second before Kakashi was able to turn the blade aside. He was about to counter when he suddenly felt the air around him concusively collapse towards the young kunoichi, pulled from his footing and suddenly unable to breathe he could only watch in shock as Hinata spun on her lead heel, bringing the blade around for a second strike. And then, his world went black as he heard Hinata cry out, "Amekakeru Ryu no Hiremeki."

Sakura whistled as she watched Kakashi get tossed backwards like a rag-doll, "Damn, that girl has gotten fast."

She looked over to Naruto, "How did you know about that new Icha Icha?"

Naruto shrugged as he took the bells off of their downed opponent's belt, "cause Ero-sennin writes them, truth is I do actually have that as a gift for him… anyway the plan worked just like I said, and you guys were awesome!"

Sakura smiled, "hey it was your plan that made it work, right Hinata?"

The violet haired girl nodded from where she was tying up Kakashi for good measure, "Hai, you really out did yourself Naruto-kun."

Naruto shook his head and laughed, "Nah, just think of it like one of my pranks, that's all it is really, the old switch-a-roo, Just in the middle of combat."

Sakura shook her head in bemusement, "its like you live and breath pranks"

Hinata was about to comment when Naruto suddenly fell forward to the ground seemingly unconscious. "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto frowned as his sight came back into focus onto the familiar sight of the cage of the Kyuubi, and the pair of giant glowing red eyes glaring down at him. He gulped as he inched away from the bars before a booming voice spoke out from the shadows, **"And just where do you think you are going?"**

Naruto gave a very fox-like yelp as he froze, eyes locked on the bars, "Ah… nowhere?"

the voice chuckled from behind the bars as the eyes shifted down to human height and size, as a tall red-haired woman walked into the light and through the gap in the bars, a chain attached to an anklet leading back into the shadows of the prison. "Good," she said crouching down in front of him and smirked, "I would hate to think my own kit was afraid of me."

She grinned ferally at him and he gulped, "And whats this about blood line traits? I don't remember us Uzumaki-no-youko ever having such a thing as that, only humans can have such things."

Swallowing back a whimper, Naruto spouted out his explanation as fast as he could, "You told me not to let anyone know that I'm a Kitsune-hanyou, and Ero-sennin called our skills a blood trait himself, so I thought it was ok to call them that, you did say he knew about you."

He looked downcast and whispered, "Gomen, Okaa-san, it wont happen again."

Kushina Uzumaki, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, grabbed her young son's shoulders and hugged him, "I'm not mad at you, kit. I'm a Kitsune remember, I was joking."

Naruto glared at her as she laughed, but she waved him off, "regardless, now that you're back in Konoha you can help me out with something of a loophole in this … arrangement of ours."

Naruto stared at his mother in surprise, "a loophole?"

Kushina nodded, a vulpine grin across her face, "all of my soul isn't actually trapped in you and that seal scroll the Yondaime made, a small portion of it is stored in my houshi-no-tama at the temple of Inari-Daimyojin of Hi-no-Kuni."

Naruto cocked his head to one side, confusion written on his face, "Houshi-no-tama? What's that?"

Kushina gestured with a clawed hand, "it's the price of gaining a human form, a Kitsune who does so siphons off a portion of their essence into a charm that's offered to a household or shrine as a promise of guardianship."

She smiled as she stroked his hair, "if you find my houshi-no-tama, I can use it to form a body outside the seal, and transfer my consciousness into it, although my mind will come back here if I get knocked unconscious or while the new body is sleeping."

Naruto looked ready to jump for joy, but she held up a hand to silence him, "just one thing kit, doing this means destroying my houshi-no-tama, and that means no more human form for me, ill be stuck in fox-form. A smaller fox-form mind you, but fox-form non-the-less."

Naruto frowned, "can't you just make a new one once you have a new body?"

She smiled at him, "yes, and I plan to do so, but that will take several months to do, so you'll be stuck with furry-me for a while."

Kushina began to walk back into the cage and called out over her shoulder, "I'd tell your teammates about all this if I were you, and Jiraiya and Tsunade-obasan as well, that way they don't panic when they see me running around. Oh and tell your new girlfriend that your mom says the coat she gave you looks nice" and with that Kushina pulsed her chakra to force him back to the waking world.

Hinata and Sakura sighed in relief as Naruto groaned and sat up, looking around him in confusion. Hinata helped him stand as he apologized to the Violet haired girl, "Gomen, Hinata-chan, I didn't mean to faint like that."

Hinata hovered over him eyes filled with worry, "are you sure you're ok Naruto-kun, you aren't sick are you?"

from behind them Sakura snickered at the ironic reversal of roles she was seeing and shook her head, sighing, "Hey, Hinata, Naruto, what should we do with our teacher?"

she jabbed a thumb at the still knocked out and hog-tied sensei on the ground. Hinata pondered that but Naruto spoke up quite quickly. "leave him tied up with the new book on a stump across the clearing!"

Sakura grinned impishly and Hinata gave a small smile "one last prank as we leave huh Naruto?" the pink haired medic laughed out, "I think that might just be the best one you've thought to pull on him yet."

Naruto just shrugged and smirked, "Its a gift."


	7. the House that hides secrets

A.N. I dont own Naruto, Kenshin, or any other anime or manga used herein – Seijuro Himura is an OC of my creation, The Kitsune Kon-kon is from the doujinshi "Naruto-Tenshi" by Nekoni.

Now on to chapter 7

**-)::(- A house that hides secrets from its own watchful eyes -)::(-**

Hinata Hyuuga shook her head as she walked home for the first time in three years, noting the subtle changes in the affluent neighborhood that the Hyuuga Compound was located in with mild interest. Several branch members were out patrolling the area, and many of them waved or nodded to her, one even called out a hello before returning to his rounds. She had never garnered that much attention from the older branch members, as she had not shown much skill in combat before her training trip. The branch members for all their restrictions were still the military arm of the clan, and were often an even harsher judge of skill than the Main branch elders, if more polite, and matter of fact in their criticism. They had never belittled her, save for her cousin Neji before the chunin exams, but they had also not given her much thought, essentially ignoring her. Neji had once told her during training after the events of the chunin exam that the Branch members' more military mindset and training lent itself to an inherent skill in reading the confidence in people, so she mused the change in attitude towards her was due to Seijuro's help in training her spirit to be firm and strong. She nodded and waved back as needed; asking one if the Clan council was in session that day, a question that was answered with a, "no, not today, Hinata-sama". Arriving at the Torii marking the entrance to her clan's lands she saw the familiar faces of Neji and Hanabi waiting for her. Hanabi smiled and motioned the elder girl over with a greeting,

"Nee-sama! You're back!" Hanabi hugged Hinata with some energy and pulled away to continue her speech, "Kono-kun and I saw you at the tower earlier, and I didn't get a chance to say hello before you went into Tsunade-sama's office."

Hinata smiled down at her imouto as they entered the compound with Neji in tow and decided to poke some fun at her younger sister, "Kono-kun? Does Imouto have a crush on the Sarutobi brat?"

Neji raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing, after all Tenten had told him never to interrupt girl talk. Hanabi sputtered and began poking her fingers together nervously, "Ano… Kono-kun isn't a brat. He's kind… and strong… and doesn't give up…"

Hanabi stared down at the ground as Hinata smiled, going for the next jab, "so you DO like him. Has he asked you out yet?"

Hanabi's head snapped up and her face turned bright red, "asked… asked me out?" Hanabi tottered for a moment before slumping back unconscious. Hinata turned to her cousin with a look of interest, "Did I look that ridiculous when I did that?"

Neji frowned and nodded his head lightly, "essentially Hinata-sama."

Hinata laughed gently as she picked up her sister and continued towards the main house, "If that's the case, Neji-nii-san, I'm beginning to see why the clan elders got so frustrated with me."

Neji nodded, "they've begun to tighten down on Hanabi as well, and on Hiashi-sama, there are some interesting accusations going around in the council meetings. It's gotten so bad that Tsunade-sama has had to step in and suspend the Hyuuga's commercial wavers to give the elders incentive to remain civil."

Hinata frowned, "what are they attacking father for?"

Neji sighed, and leaned against the door post of the entrance to the main house, "The fact that he married yours and Hanabi's mother, she wasn't a Hyuuga as you recall, but a refugee from Kiri during the blood purges. It came to the attention of the council that she might have been a member of the Kiri clan famous for their use of hyouton techniques. Some of the elders are claiming Hiashi-sama was deliberately trying to weaken the strength of the main house so the branch house could more easily rebel."

Hinata stared at Neji like he'd grown a third arm, "Hyouton users? That's ridiculous; Okaa-san wasn't even a ninja."

Neji nodded, "I know, and Tsunade-sama did blood tests to prove that Tsuki-sama wasn't from that clan, but the Elders in question just argue that they can't trust the Matriarch of the Namikaze and Senju clans if she couldn't even protect her own husband, brother, and son from death." Neji growled out a curse, "worthless fools, bringing up old wounds like that, and of our Hokage at that. That was when she revoked the Clan's Trade licenses, claiming the elders were bordering on seditious. Things are getting out of hand here Hinata-sama, you couldn't have made it back fast enough."

Hinata frowned and stared at the wall, she shouldn't make waves just yet, she thought, her return was still news and it would give credence to the claims of the elders. She needed time to gather information, and determine who was on whose side.

Setting her sister down in the entry on a couch, she turned to her cousin with a calculating gleam in her eye, "Neji-nii-san, I have never been unfair to you have I?"

Neji seemed confused by the question but answered anyway, "No you have not, Hinata-sama… but why ask me this."

Hinata smiled at him, "Its simple, you are by clan laws supposed to be my second, but I have never treated you as such or used you to deliver messages and such things to the elders. If you were to start delivering messages from me to the elders, it might well give them an exaggerated picture of the change my training has caused, and buy us some time to figure out a more permanent solution to the problem they present our dream of a unified clan."

Neji's eyes widened in amazement, "That's quite cunning of you Hinata-sama, but you'll need to tell Tenten of this plan, or allow me to tell her. Otherwise she may attack you if she thinks you have become like the elders and have begun abusing your power over me with the caged bird seal."

Hinata nodded, "Agreed, you can tell her at your leisure, in fact I may need her help as well, can the two of you come by team 7's training ground tomorrow?" Hinata questioned.

"team 7? Isn't that Naruto's team?"

Hinata nodded, "yes, and mine now as well."

Neji nodded and gave a mock bow, "As you command, Hinata-sama" Hinata giggled and shooed him away, the next task she had to perform he need not be a part of … greeting her father. She entered the room her father spent his leisure hours in with a quick but respectful bow and waited for her father to finish his current grooming of the Bonsai collection he was so proud of. After several minutes he looked up from his work and a genuine look of surprise crossed his face, "Hinata… you have returned then?"

Hinata nodded, seating herself in the proper place in the room as a petitioner, "Hai, just this morning, I was just released from debriefing an hour ago, Otou-sama."

Hiashi nodded seating himself at his low desk, "And how would you describe your progress daughter?"

Hinata thought for a moment and smiled, "Kenshin, Otou-sama"

Hiashi raised an eyebrow and took a sip of the drink sitting on his desk, "Kenshin, that means 'heart of the sword' does in not?"

his daughter nodded as she poured herself a glass of the strange liquid, "Hai, more or less, it's a reference to being in harmony with my Sakabatou." She sipped the reddish liquid and coughed in surprise, "What is this drink?"

Hiashi smiled at his eldest and sipped slowly from his own glass, "I bought a supply of it a year ago from traders carrying goods of lands from beyond the shinobi nations; They called it whiskey"

His daughter frowned at him, "Otou-sama, I heard about the Elders attacking your marrying Okaa-san, why have they done this? It makes no sense."

Hiashi sighed and rubbed his temples, "It is because Hanabi began to behave like you after you left. I am certain they believed your sister to be a perfect puppet, but thanks to the Sarutobi boy she's become much kinder. When the elders began to pick up on the change in her demeanor they started looking for common traits between you and Hanabi to explain the 'weakness,'" Hiashi pored himself another glass of the whiskey before continuing, "Hagetaka-san was the one to put forth the hyouton rumor, and many of the hard line traditionalists panicked at the idea of blending the Byakugan with another blood limit."

Hinata nodded and continued her questioning, "But why have they refused Tsunade-sama's reports that exonerate you?"

Her father bemusedly smiled at her, "Daughter, Godaime-sama once had a family here in Konoha, years ago, her son Minato was my genin teammate. Hagetaka is claiming that she is thus not a valid source of proof, due to her past irrationality concerning her family. In short he is claiming she is cooking the results as a favor since I was her son's friend." Hiashi frowned and stared at his glass for sometime. "I wouldn't care about that old vulture's claims if it weren't for the fact he's partially right."

Hinata started and stared at her father "Otou-sama?"

Hiashi pulled out a book and set it in front of Hinata, "Your mother's journal, it talks about the Hyouton bloodline quite extensively, it apparently only carried down through the eldest child of a family, and Tsuki was the second-born. The danger of bloodline contamination is minimal as far as Tsunade-sama can tell, although she'll have to test you to be sure. Never the less, Hagetaka is right about her being from that clan."

Hinata leafed through the book and spoke to her father in a tone of hushed surprise, "Why were Hanabi and I never told?"

Her father leaned back and gazed at the ceiling of the room, "Kiri's blood hunters were known to chase down refugees even in other shinobi nations, your mother was afraid you'd be attacked if the truth was known. She begged me not to let anyone know, in case an over-zealous blood hunter went after you or Hanabi." He paused gather his thoughts, "and then, there is Konoha's Clan Restoration Acts," he said after a few moments had passed, "If the Hyouton blood line has carried to you, Konoha law would allow for you to declare yourself a separate clan from the Hyuuga and take steps to reclaim lost hyouton clan numbers via marriage and other means." Hiashi gave a wry smile, "and any techniques you had learned would go with you."

Hinata nodded in understanding, and stood to leave, but paused and said, "It's good to be home Tou-san."

Hiashi raised his glass to her, "It is good to have you back musume."

Padding stiffly to her own quarters she opened the door to find it had been left untouched for three years. Notes and sketches littered her desk, and her bed sat in its corner with its Naruto plush doll she had made when she was still in the academy.

"I ought to bring it up to date I guess" she said smiling at the doll.

She had just started to clear away the old papers at her desk when she heard a soft rapping from her balcony door. Turning to peer out the glass she spotted a small animal pawing at the door staring at her quite intently a scroll set in front of it on the decking of the balcony. "kon!" the furry visitor called out as it scratched at glass.

"a Kitsune?" Hinata stared at the small fox with interest; how had a Kitsune gotten to her fifth floor room in the tower-like main house of the Hyuuga clan?

"kon! kon!" the fox cried in obvious agitation and Hinata couldn't help but smile at the small animal. Standing up from her work, she slid the door open and watched as the fox skittered into the room and jumped onto her bed before curling up in a ball next to her Naruto-plushie. She smiled as she picked up the letter, blinking in confusion at the small spiral seal pressed onto it.

"did you bring me this, little fox?" she asked as she closed the door and sat back down at the desk to examine the scroll. As far as she could tell the scroll wasn't warded, nor was it sealed with jutsu locks, just the small wax seal with a spiral etched on it. A very agitated "KON!" from her furry visitor seemed to get the message across that she ought to open the scroll. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw it was filled with Naruto's handwriting.

_Hinata-chan, I hope kon-kon didn't cause too much trouble at the Hyuuga clan to find you, but I needed to get this to you right away, and she's faster than the toads I can summon – don't let her fool you by the way, she can talk just like any other summon animal. I can't give details as to why I need your help in this letter, but I need to go to the Inari temple in the Hi-no-Kuni capitol for a family matter. I want both you and Sakura-chan to come with me, for moral support, and because, well, you'll see when we get there. Please meet us tonight at training ground 7 so we can head out as soon as possible. I am going to talk to Tsunade-baachan and Ero-Sennin about this as well, so we shouldn't get in trouble. I promise to explain everything to you and Sakura to night. - Naruto._

Hinata looked over at the small fox on her bed to find it staring at her with large blue eyes that spoke of a large amount of curiosity. The Hyuuga Heiress walked back to her balcony door and opened it, turning towards the Kitsune with a kind smile, "Tell Naruto-kun that I will meet him tonight as he asks, but that there is something I need his help with as well."

Kon-Kon bounded of the bed and out onto the balcony without making a sound. The tiny fox gave its species equivalent to a bow and leaped off the balcony, vanishing from sight like a dissipating cloud of steam. Hinata stared at the letter a second time and frowned 'A family matter... what would the Inari Taisha have that would concern his family?' She left her room and headed to the clan library to gather information on just what this strange turn of events could mean. The records concerning the shrine were surprisingly out of the way in the archives, as if it had been sequestered away. Hinata shook off such thoughts and began to read the archives records with interest. Most of it was unimportant, old records of offerings by Konoha, but then she saw a passage written in her uncle's hand that shook her to the core.

_By the order of the Most Exalted Inari Daimyojin, the Hi Inari Taisha is now the seat of the clan of Kitsune, the Uzumaki-no-youko. Truly Hi-no-Kuni has gained a blessing far beyond our expectations, for the Kyuubi-no-Youko has offered her Houshi-no-tama to the Honden as a token of protection and alliance. Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze is to oversee the ceremony and is to escort Lady Uzumaki to Konoha once the Houshi-no-tama is enshrined._

Hinata straitened herself and slipped back to her room taking the scroll with her. How did this fit together with what she had learned earlier today? The Uzumaki Kitsune, Naruto's Uzumaki clan. His Father the Yondaime, the death of the Kyuubi, that the scroll claims was once an ally. She sat on her bed and sighed, the pieces seemed to fit vaguely in her mind, but she would let Naruto-kun tell the tale to her himself when she arrived at the training grounds that night. For now, she decided the best thing to do was rest from the three year journey she had only recently completed


	8. Hi Inari Taisha part 1: His Mothers Son

A.N. I dont own Naruto, Kenshin, or any other anime or manga used herein – Seijuro Himura is an OC of my creation, The Kitsune Kon-kon is from the doujinshi "Naruto-Tenshi" by Nekoni.

**-)::(- Mission to Hi Inari Taisha: His Mother's Son-)::(-**

In Konoha, a village bred for conflict and war, it is unsurprising to learn that a good many parables and fables exist to teach young shinobi in training the importance of things such as stealth and disguise. One such parable, written to demonstrate the idea of hiding in plain sight was called "The Candle and the Bonfire."

_Once, before the time of ninjas there lived a great king of men. He had all he desired and many warriors under his control, but A seer came to him one day with dark news, "Beware oh great king! By a candle's flame shall an assassin slay thee!" The king called in his guards and told them to keep careful watch for any candle's light in the night, in hopes to catch the one who hunted him. For many years no sign of danger was ever reported, and so one summer, the king called a great night feast to be served on the courtyards. Soon a great bonfire was lit, and a scaffold erected in front of it to overlook the festivities, so that the king might look down upon his subjects. The night went on with the guards keeping watch, but suddenly the revelers screamed in shock, as the scaffold was noted to be somehow ablaze, the ropes of its front supports burning away into ash. Before the king or his guards could leap free it toppled over onto the raging bonfire. The people called out to the Seer, accusing him of lying to the king, for surely a bonfire was no candle. But a lone man stepped forward and held out a half burned candle to the crowd and said, "Nay people of the land, he lies not. By this candle was the great king laid low, alone in darkness the candle is bright, but against greater lights it is a dim thing. With its flame I lit the scaffold's ropes ablaze, for it was impossible for the guards to see such a tiny spark against the fury of such abundant fires as the bonfires of the King"._

Hinata walked slowly to the grove that served as team 7's meeting place, her mind heavy with the questions the day had brought to her, both from her own family, and the strange shadow that hung over Naruto's past. She remembered the tale of the candle and the bonfire quite well from her childhood, and in many ways, it seemed that Naruto's past followed this pattern. Once removed from the everyday facts he lived in, the evidence that something was unique about him and his parents became suddenly clear. But within the crowd of people in Konoha, he was just another face, another in a long list of unimportant citizens and low ranking ninja. Now however, it seemed that Naruto wanted to reveal at least a part of his past to his two teammates, and Hinata's instincts told her that this was more important than the infighting of her clan – and might even help her control that infighting. The heiress frowned slightly at that thought, not liking the callousness it implied. She still loved the blode haired ninja deeply, and didn't even want to entertain thoughts that sounded manipulative of him. After all, she thought, he had gotten enough of such things from the rest of Konoha.

From her left Hinata noticed Sakura join her on the road, a medic pack slung over one shoulder. Nodding to the pink haired teammate Hinata picked up the conversation as they walked slowly to the training fields, "Sakura-san, you got the message too?"

the medic nodded, holding out a small scroll in one hand for Hinata to see, "Yeah, delivered by a fox named Kon-Kon. You know, I never realized how cruel the people of Konoha are to Kitsune before tonight." Sakura said saddly, eyes distant.

Hinata cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Oro? What do you mean?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes in memory, "My mother attacked Kon-Kon when she saw her. Hit the poor little thing with a broom and screamed things at her that didn't make sense. It was like she thought that little kitsune was going to attack and eat us. It makes me sick to think my mom would do that to a helpless animal"

The medic punched a lightpost to emphasize her displeasure, and the pole buckled in from her blow.

Hinata nodded in thought, "That is disturbing indeed, especially considering Konoha's guardian kami is Inari."

Sakura turned her head to look at Hinata, "Kitsune are his messengers, right?"

Hinata shook her head, "not all of them, just the clan of Kitsune called the Uzumaki-no-youko, but im fairly sure Kon-kon-chan is one of them."

Sakura eyed Hinata with intrest, "Uzumaki? Do you think they're connected to Naruto's family?"

"Perhaps, It would explain why many of the adults call him "The fox brat" when they think no one can hear them." Hinata supplied with some concern on her face.

"Fox brat? I've never heard him called that." Sakura said with obvious surprise, her eyes wide and face white.

Hinata laughed hollowly, "You forget I used to follow him everywhere. I heard people say things about him that were apalling. I hate myself for that time, Sakura, I could have helped him, but I was too afraid of him rejecting me to do it."

Sakura could see the tears welling up in the girls lavender eyes and so the pink haired kunoichi wrapped her teammate in a comforting hug. "Hey! You did help him! Remember the Chunin exams? He beat Neji because you believed in him when no one else would."

Hinata smiled at her teammate wistfully, "I don't actually remember the fight… I… passed out from overexertion from my injuries from the preleminary round."

They continued on in silence after that, ariving at the team 7 training field to see a very silly and somewhat sad sight, Kakashi Hatake, still bound up in wire, had inched his way across the clearing, and was reading the new Icha-Icha, turning the pages with his teeth. Sitting on the Jonin's back, with Kon-kon in his lap, was Naruto. The Blonde haired Genin had a large map in his hands and was talking to Kakashi as the girls approached. "I don't get it Kakashi-Sensei, the map shows three inner shrines! How are we supposed to know which one to go to! And why does the shrine grounds have to cover three whole montains!"

Kakashi didn't turn to look at his student as he answered, "Im not an expert on the Hi Inari Taisha, Naruto, but I would assume it's to protect the Shrines treasures." Naruto frowned but then smiled as he noticed the girls sit down across from him on a log.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, you made it!" The boy all but shouted, clearly pleased that they had come. His expression soured though as he looked down at Kon-kon and sighed. It was the moment of truth for him, His future hung on the acceptance of these two girls, and he knew it.

"Hinata, Sakura, you know Im an orphan right? How my parrents died on the night the Kyuubi attacked?" Naruto waited for the nod of two heads before he continued. "Well that's not the whole story, not by a long shot." He looked down at Kon-kon and scratched her ear for a moment before he started again, "The biggest secret of that night is that the Kyuubi wasn't attacking us of her own free will, she was forced to."

Sakura and Hinata gasped at this revelation and the pink haired kunoichi voiced their confusion, "Forced? How?"

Kakashi looked up from his novel to answer for his student, "The Mangekyo Sharingan. We don't know what member of the Uchiha used Tsukiyomi on her, but we know from records of the battle between the Shodaime, Senju Harashima, and the Uchiha Clan leader at that time, Uchiha Madara, that Tsukiyomi can allow an Uchiha to control the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi doesn't remember who forced her to attack us however."

Hinata caught the slip before Sakura, "Doesn't remember? but she was killed by the Yondaime wasn't she?"

Kon-kon barked out a dry laugh at that "Onee-sama Killed by Minato-san? Yeah, right."

Naruto glared down at the small fox, "Kon-kon…" the fox pinned her ears and looked away as Naruto turned to face the girls again, "The Kyuubi isn't dead, the Yondaime knew she was being controlled so he used a forbidden technique to seal the Kitsune in a living host, that way he saved both her and the village – at the cost of his life" Sakura jumped in to comment her eyes wide with shock, "You mean like Garra and Shukaku?"

naruto shook his head, "not quite, the Kyuubi is the leader of the Uzumaki-no-youko, a sacred temple guardian, no normal host would survive the amount of youki the Kyuubi's soul produces, even a newborn baby would be killed, the host had to be related to her, it had to be at least partially a kitsune itself."

Hinata frowned her face white, eyes welling with tears. Sakura looked like she was trying to decide whether she should do so as well or comfort the dark haired girl. Naruto looked away, unable to face them, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, of the Uzumaki-no-youko. My mother is Kushina Uzumaki, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, I don't know who my father was, but the Yondaime sealed my own mother in me using the hake fuin shiki to save Konoha from her, and to save her from Konoha."

Sakura grit her teeth to keep from screaming in rage, all that hatred towards him, its cause was now obvious to her. He had done nothing more than be born and he was scorned as a monster. How did they justify that behavior? How did she? she realized with disgust that she had been just as guilty of abusing him as the older generations, and she hadn't even had a reason. How had he remained sane? she thought with no small amount of admiration. Garra had suffered a similar fate and had all but lost his mind to the power of the Ichibi, Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed in him, a creature unimaginably more powerful. A sudden noise startled Sakura from her thoughts. Looking up the medic was surprised to see Hinata latched onto the Fox-boy tears streaming down her pale face. She was muttering appologies to the boy with such speed that her speech was a hiccup-filled blur to her teammates who looked at each other with concern.

Sakura eyed Naruto evenly and spoke with a slight smile, "I think what Hinata is trying to say, Naruto, is that we are a team, and we stick together. We wish we could have been there for you earlier, but since we can't change the past, we are just going to stick to the present. Right Hinata?" the dark haired girl nodded into Naruto's chest as he patted her back in concern. Sakura sat down next to him and smiled as Kon-kon leapt into her lap. She eyed the two as they intereacted before asking her next question. "So, Naruto, what's this mission to the Hi Inari Taisha about anyway?"

Naruto looked up from comforting the Hyuuga heiress to answer, his own eyes shining with joy at the acceptance of the two. "Mom thinks she found a loophole in her prison sentence, and she needs me to go to the Hi Inari Taisha to retrieve the Houshi no tama stored there."

Kon-kon continued for him "A houshi no tama stores a portion of a myobu's – that is a guardian Kitsune's power. We give them to the people we are sworn to protect as servents of Inari. Kushina Onee-Sama was the guardian of all of Fire Country so her Houshi no Tama is kept at the Hi Inari Taisha."

Hinata turned to Kon-kon in confusion, "But what do we need it for?"

Naruto answered with a nervous laugh, "We're going to destroy it."

Sakura sputtered, "Destroy a temple relic?"

Kon-kon shook her head, "its worthless as a symbol of protection now, the people of Konoha broke the contract when they attacked Naruto after the sealing, showing that they didn't want the Kitsune's protection any more. By rights Kushina should have her power returned to her."

Naruto nodded at Kon-kon's explanation and continued for her as Hinata sat back down next to him her eyes red from tears. "Mom told me that she intends to use the youki and chakra stored in the Houshi no tama to form a new body she can use outside the seal, with out actually breaking the seal itself."

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise at this, and Sakura looked astonished. "Nani?!"


	9. One Thousand Foxes One Thousand Gates

**-)::(- Mission to Hi Inari Taisha: One thousand Gates; one thousand Foxes -)::(-**

Naruto blinked in confusion at the shouts of his teammates, surely he had explained it simplistically enough, after all, if _he_ understood it, surely anyone else would as well. His mother's harsh Fox-form voice pushed in to his psyche in exasperation, "_**They are yelling from shock, not confusion, kit"**_

He nodded absently to her and tried to think of a way to explain things to them so they would understand. Thankfully, Kakashi, who was now being used as a bench by all three of his genin, explained things further. "Sakura, Hinata, the Biju are Youkai who transcended their physical forms – they possess a type of immortality – if their body is destroyed, they can form a new one out of their youki. It's because of that that Jinchuriki are so important, they prevent a Biju from reforming a new body by trapping the Biju's soul, and therefore its youki behind the binding seal. However once the seal is in place, any of their youki that wasn't sealed away remains outside, but still connected to the Biju's essence. Now with the other Eight Biju that isn't an issue – but because Kushina is a kitsune who had already formed a Houshi no Tama, part of her soul is held in it rather than the seals."

Sakura blinked, "Seals? As in more than one, Kakashi-sensei?"

A new voice; that of Jiraiya, answered from the edge of the clearing where he was approaching the group, "That's right, Yondaime split the main portion of Kushina's soul between the seal on Naruto, and a sealing scroll held by the Toads." Jiraiya stepped into the clearing as he continued "That way if Kushina ever recovered – glad to here she has by the way, gaki" Naruto grinned as he heard his Mother mutter, "_**Ero-Oji-gama"**_ but Jiraiya seemed to pay no heed to Naruto's fox-grin as he continued, "_If_ Kushina ever recovered, Yondaime figured she'd appreciate being able to get a portion of her old power back. Removing her soul from the gaki here isn't an option after all."

Hinata blinked, "Why is that, Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya frowned darkly, "Well, little miss Hyuuga, if you remove the Biju's soul from a Jinchuriki's seal, the Jinchuriki dies. I know this because of research I helped the Yondaime perform when we prepared for Kushina's sealing." A momentary pause brought a dark look to the Sennin's eyes, "To make matters worse there is a group out there trying to collect the Biju for some reason. Both he and Garra, as well as any other Jinchuriki would be killed by them to achieve their goal."

Hinata grabbed onto Naruto's arm reflexively with one hand at that, her other hand going for her Sakabatou. Jiraiya smirked at the look of possessive protection the heiress was giving off, it was an all too obvious sign of her attraction to the young Kitsune. Who for his part was staring at Hinata's hand on his arm with a slight tint of red on his face. "_I wonder if his mother is teasing him about that right now?" _the older ninja bemusedly pondered, as he turned to face Sakura, who had one hand balled into a shaking fist, and the other holding the map Naruto had been examining earlier.

"Still your biggest problem right now is breaching the seal protecting the Hi Inari Taisha's Honden." Jiraiya muttered thoughtfully. "The priests who guard the Houshi no tama grew a bit paranoid in recent years it seems. They've procured outside help to defend the shrine from a Nogitsune."

Naruto groaned in annoyance at the perverted sage's comment. "There's a Nogitsune near the shrines? Great, as if it needed to get any more complicated."

Sakura and Hinata looked at each other in confusion before the samurai girl asked the obvious question, "What's a Nogitsune?"

Jiraiya's face shifted into his "Wise Mountain Hermit" expression as he sternly replied, "A Nogitsune, also called an Oath-breaker by the Myobu, is a Kitsune who has abandoned his service to Inari to pursue selfish ends. They attempt to steal the power of other Kitsune to further their own strength, usually by consuming another Kitsune's houshi no tama."

The old toad sage paused to gather his thoughts, "When Naruto told Tsunade-hime and I that Kushina was back with us, I sent a messenger toad to the Temple to let them know. Apparently, the inner shrines were attacked by a powerful and cruel Nogitsune, and the local lesser Kitsune are afraid to approach the shrine closer than the thousand gates."

Sakura blinked in confusion, "the thousand gates?"

Hinata nodded, "I've heard of those, the approach to the shrine is covered by hundreds of Torii donated by wealthy families and businesses as a request for good fortune from Inari-daimyojin, who besides being the kami of rice, is the kami of commerce. My family donates gates when members of the main branch become old enough to enter the academy, to ask for success in ninja life, since being shinobi is our business."

Jiraiya nodded, "That's right, Hinata. Anyway, to prevent this Nogitsune from stealing the houshi no tama, the priests called on an old ally of the Uzumaki no youko to help secure the temple. Apparently there are now several ookami youkai at the Hi Inari Taisha maintaining a powerful youkai barrier around the Honden. The four of you will have to prove yourselves to them if you wish to succeed."

Hinata faced Naruto with a slight look of concern, "Naruto-kun, would you mind if we got others to join us in this mission? I think it might help us"

Naruto looked worried at this, warily asking of her, "Who did you have in mind?" it was clear he was worried about revealing his heritage to the remaining rookie nine.

Hinata patted his arm comfortingly and spoke gently, "Asuma-san, he was trained as a priest of the Hi Inari Taisha, so he may know things we don't."

Kakashi turned a page and gave a sort of grunt of agreement, "That would not be a bad idea Hinata, Asuma would have access to shrine records and could help us gain the trust of the priests, unfortunately, that isn't an option. Team ten is on active patrol rotation, so they currently can't provide aid to us for this mission. Still, its good to see you three thinking things through, and I will see if he can provide us with a letter of sponsorship so we can avoid some early hassles."

Hinata nodded, turning to address the sannin, "What about the ookami? What do we know about them, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Not much to be honest, only that they are from a tribe of mountain ookami youkai with ancestral alliances with the Uzumaki," Jiraiya replied after a moment, clearly disliking how little he knew of the guardians. "I understand that they are an extremely honor bound group of youkai though, so they should be at least fair to you."

Naruto cocked his head to the side as his mother commented on the old man's knowledge. "_**Ookami from the mountains… it has to be Ayame-Oba-San's tribe. Damn… what was her mate's name… oh well it will come back to me I'm sure. Kit, if nothing else those wolves ought to be interesting to fight.**_"

"It looks like Okaa-san has an idea who they are," Naruto provided for those not able to hear her, "But she's having trouble with details."

Sakura gave a wry smirk, "Like mother like son then eh?"

Hinata swatted the other girl lightly on the arm, "Sakura, be nice"

Jiraiya laughed loudly, "you've got guts girl, but you do realize that you just made fun of the Kyuubi right? And that means she, a Kitsune, a trickster youkai, will now have to repay the joke ten fold, as is the kitsune way."

Sakura paled a bit, "I forgot that detail…"

"_**Yay! A new victim… er… playmate**_" Naruto blanched as he heard his mother's giddy cheer, quite unsure if he should let Sakura know of her coming prank-doom.

Sakura laughed nervously and stood up to stretch, the two other genin following her lead. Kakashi grunted in relief and stood up behind them, the wires that had bound him suddenly neatly coiled next to him. The Jonin groaned as several joints popped as he walked over to the sannin to discuss the new book.

Hinata stood by as her two teammates stretched and joked about things. Hinata considered her female teammate; once she had viewed the pink haired kunoichi as a goal, someone to be like, because Naruto had had a crush on the pink haired girl. Now however, he seemed to behave more like she was a sister, or cousin. Yes he still called her Sakura-chan, but Hinata realized that was more out of habit than any deep attraction between him and her. Sakura herself seemed much more inclined to appreciate the boy in this behavior, encouraging the sibling like banter with jabs of her own.

Hinata's thoughts shifted then to her male team-member, did she have a chance with him? He certainly seemed interested in her new found strength of will, but was there more to it than that? He was still wearing the white coat she had given him, so he obviously appreciated her kindness. She watched as he argued with Kon-kon over something on the map of the shrine-grounds, Hinata quirked her head to the side as a sudden thought crossed her mind, Kon-kon kept referring to Kushina as Onee-sama, did that mean the tiny fox was Kushina's Imouto? And wouldn't that make her Naruto's aunt? That thought struck home with the gravity of her crush's heritage, all of his relatives on his mother's side were kitsune, certainly many probably had houshi no tama of their own and lived among humans happily, but probably many more did not. She could only imagine Hagetaka's reaction to swarms of kitsune in the clan grounds. Then a new thought struck her, a question she had to ask, "Naruto-kun… ano… do you have a fox form?"

Naruto was so startled by that question that he fell backwards coughing. After a few seconds on the ground he was suddenly growling out a comment to what his two female companions could only imagine was going on inside his head, "Shut up Okaa-san! It's not that funny!"

While Naruto argued with his mother, Kon-kon answered Hinata, "Naruto doesn't have a fox form at the moment, but he could gain one as a hanyou the same way a normal kitsune gains a human form; making a houshi-no-tama."

Sakura seemed surprised by this, "Really? Wait, what's a Hanyou?"

Naruto sat back up and looked at the two girls with an odd look on his face, as if he was trying to figure out if Sakura had been serious. After a few moments he sighed and explained the word. "Hanyou is the term for someone who has one human and one youkai parent, its usually preceded by the type of youkai the parent was, so I'm a Kitsune-hanyou. From what Okaa-san tells me, that's part of the reason I … reacted the way I did to youkai chakra."

Jiraiya's attention was pulled away from Kakashi and back to Naruto, "What do you mean Gaki?"

Naruto looked at him and sighed, "A hanyou's youki is naturally unstable, and the more powerful the youkai parent the worse it gets. Okaa-san told me that in the past Hanyou were often killed at birth because of the danger they presented to their family and those around them. It wasn't until the technique of blood binding items was developed that Hanyous began to make it to adulthood in large numbers."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding, though the girls seemed quite lost on what Naruto was talking about. It seemed that the two men weren't going to share the details about whatever it was they were discussing. Jiraiya then asked a second question, "If Kushina knows why you go berserk when you channel youki, does she know were we can get one of those binding items?"

Naruto's face went blank as he focused on turning his thoughts inward to his mother, "Well, Okaa-san? Do you know how we can get one for me?"

His mother, standing just inside the bars in her full fox form glowered down at him, "**As it stands now kit you couldn't get one even if we found the guy who makes them.**"

"What, why?" the young hanyou all but yelled

"**Because making one requires one of my fangs, that's why! So focus on the temple for now, and besides, Yondaime's seal works well enough as a substitute for now.**"

Naruto grimaced, "But I lose control if I go over two tails! How is that working well enough?!"

The young hanyou had to jump back as a massive paw slammed against the bars, claws stopping inches from were he had been standing. His mother all but roared in anger and agitation at him, "**BRAT! Of course you loose control, I'm a KYUUBI, you, if you had been a full blood fox would only be a Nibi at most! So don't sell Minato's work short got it!**"

Naruto blinked in confusion, "Who the hell is Minato?" his surprise increased as his mother shifted to human form, grasping one of the massive bars with her hands as she sank to her knees. Kushina's shoulders shook with silent sobs and her "breathing" came in short ragged breaths. Naruto stepped forward as he heard his mother crying.

"O-okaa-san?" Naruto was worried, he had never seen his mother break down like this, she was completely distraught and he had no idea how to comfort her. As he approached the bars he stopped as he heard his mothers voice sobbing out apologies to the void.

"Oh, kami, he doesn't even know who you are, Minato, forgive me" Her sobs continued, and Naruto walked through the bars to hug his mother to try and comfort her. He didn't know who this Minato was, but he knew he was important to his mom, and once she was free, he was going to help her find this guy, or at least find out what happened to him. Still, in the back of his head, he couldn't help but feel as though he ought to have known that name.

He released his focus to return to the waking world to see Jiraiya, Kon-kon, and the girls watching him expectantly. He groaned as he realized he had fallen over again. "Gomen, didn't mean to collapse when I asked Okaa-san about the sealing items."

Jiraiya nodded as he questioned the boy, "What did she say?" the sage gestured animatedly in an attempt to encourage Naruto to speak.

Naruto shrugged, "That Yondaime's seal works as a substitute… oi, Ero-sennin, who's Minato?"

Jiraiya blinked at the boy and frowned, "This is a joke right, gaki?"

Naruto only stared at him in confusion, and Jiraiya sighed in exasperation as he looked off towards the Hokage monument. "Minato is Minato Namikaze, Tsunade's son, and the Yondaime Hokage. For a kid who idolizes him, you really didn't know his name?"

Naruto frowned in embarrassment, that was were he had heard the name. He laughed nervously as he tried to save some face in front of the girls who were both giggling slightly at his expression. "I guess I forgot, I knew it sounded familiar when Okaa-san said 'not to sell Minato's work short'."

Hinata spoke up, "That's not surprising, from my clan's records, Namikaze-san was Uzumaki-san's escort when she first visited Konoha after making her Houshi-no-tama; although when I read the reports I didn't know what a houshi-no-tama was."

Naruto flailed his arms wildly in surprise, "You mean Mom knew the Yondaime?!"

Jiraiya tried to hold it in, surely the kami would not judge him to harshly, but the moment Naruto used the phrase _knew the Yondaime _his ever perverted mind made the lewd connection and he began to giggle pervertedly. Naruto frowned at that and punched the old man in the head. They had all night to plan, they didn't the old coot acting like an idiot while they tried to work.


	10. Did you know your Father was

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Naruto. There it has been said now go read the rest of the story!

**-)::(- Did you know your Father was an animal lover? -)::(-**

Jiraiya paused and gathered his nerve, he had been told to reveal the whole truth to Naruto, including who his father was, but the idea of facing the boy after the tale was told was something he wasn't sure he could take. If Naruto felt he had been abandoned by his father then the toad sage was certain he would never be able to look the boy in the face again. Even so, he told himself, the gaki had the right to know, and whats more, needed to know – or else there would be a dangerous confrontation with the priests at the Hi Inari Taisha. Maybe if he eased into it by telling the brat and his teammates the story of how Naruto's parents had met, it would help him build the nerve before he got to the proverbial bombshell

"Oi, gaki, and lovely young ladies, there's something you should know about Minato and Kushina – about their relationship and how they met, this will probably take some time so sit down."

_Jiraiya's tale, Uzugakure Border 18 years ago_

A smiling blonde haired man dressed in a white trench coat with red flames in his early twenties was walking backwards along the roads approaching the small town of Uzu near the Hi Inari Taisha. The reason for his reversed posture was he was currently chatting with his two old teammates from his gennin days, Hyuuga Hiashi and Inazuka Tsume. He was of course Namikaze Minato, yondaime Hokage.

"Ne, Hiashi, I hear you finally worked up the nerve to ask out Tsuki-chan for a date, about damn time eh Tsume?" The Hokage said with a grin.

Hiashi frowned and rolled his eyes, "We came along with you, _yondaime-sama,_ because you said you needed skilled guards, not so you can wheedle into our personal lives."

The young leader gave a mock expression of shock, "Wheedle! I do no such thing! I am merely trying to get a feel for the emotional state of my subjects"

Tsume snorted, "Emotional state of your subjects?! You've been hanging around Sensei when he's drunk again haven't you?"

Minato grinned impishly, "He does get punchy when drunk… but no, I'll have you know I made that one up on my own."

Hiashi smirked, "with how terrible the joke was, Minato, I would have gone with claiming Sensei had come up with it"

Minato pantomimed a chest injury, clutching at his heart, "I am slain by the cold words of my false friend!"

Hiashi merely shook his head at his commander and turned to Tsume, "I wonder what the Hi Inari Taisha wanted with him? Do you think they plan on trying to cure him of his stupidity?"

Tsume laughed, "If his mom couldn't fix that, I doubt some priest could"

Hiashi made a show of holding his chin in a fairly passable impression of their sensei's 'thinking pose', "Maybe it's a form of possession?"

Minato glared at his teammates, "I'm right here you know"

Tsume and Hiashi's laughter did not improve Minato's disposition. They had only gone a little further when they could see the vermillion Torii that stood to mark the entrance to the shrine compound. To their surprise, there seemed to be a commotion at the gates, as several of the priests were gathered around the closest Torii of the thousand gates yelling up at a belligerent red haired young woman sitting on the gate's cross-beam. Minato's breath caught in his throat as he saw her, several years later he would tell Hiashi that he knew he wanted to marry the mysterious woman right then, Hiashi would respond that that just proved his friend had been crazy for longer than originally thought. At the moment though, he merely watched as the scene unfolded, though he did note that one of the priests was none other than Sarutobi Asuma

"Uzumaki-sama please, the new Hokage will be here soon, don't you want to make a good impression on him?" one of the monks pleaded to the red-head.

The woman stared down at him and stuck out her tongue, before responding, "I don't care about impressions, I'm the Kyuubi, he should be honored to be working with me regardless"

Minato, Hiashi, and Tsume shared a look that obviously conveyed a common question, _this is the Kyuubi?_

The priest sputtered and was about to respond when Asuma spoke up, "Uzumaki-san, yondaime-sama isn't all that for formalities either, but if he sees you behaving like this he'll take it as a challenge"

The young vixen raised an eyebrow at the guardian, "Challenge?"

Asuma nodded, "Yes, Hokage-sama is very fond of pranks, and often repays childish behavior in kind"

Hiashi and Tsume risked a glance to their leader and saw him spinning one of his three-pronged Kunai on a finger with a tell-tale grin on his face. Minato himself had a feeling Asuma had seen them approach and being the only one at the temple who knew what Minato looked like had desired to set up this scenario to give the two lovers of pranks a "proper" introduction.

Asuma meanwhile was still trying to convince the Kitsune leader to get off the Torii, "Uzumaki-san as much as i'm sure the view up there is enjoyable, we really do need to get to the temple to greet the Delegation from Konoha."

Kushina made a rather rude gesture towards Asuma, "Like I care, i'm sure he isn't here yet, whats the rush?"

Kushina jumped and nearly fell off the Torii when a smooth male voice spoke out from next to her, "Asuma, I take it you aren't having to much trouble with the Kyuubi here?"

Asuma shook his head, "Not at all yondaime-sama, no more than I have ever had from this childhood friend of yours"

The male voice next to Kushina responded in a surprised tone, "childhood friend?"

Kushina was staring wide-eyed at the man on the Torii next to her, how he had gotten on it without her knowledge she had no idea. He certainly looked nice, she noted, and his carefree smile brought memories of her childhood un-bidden to her mind. She blinked, and then suddenly her expression changed to one of incredible excitement. "MINATO!" she yelled latching onto the now quite startled Hokage.

Minato fell of the Torii with the red-haired vixen on top of him. He groaned as he cleared his head and stared at the woman in confusion, as she continued to hug him as if he might vanish at any moment. He reached out to tap her shoulder to get her attention and asked what he thought a perfectly innocent question, "Have we met before?"

Kushina's expression changed from excitement to confusion, and then to anger, her eyes glowing red as she began to shake the poor Kage by his coat's collar, "You Teme! What do you mean have we met before?! I gave my houshi-no-tama to you you insensitive jerk!"

Minato struggled to piece together the statement, "Houshi-no-tama … Wait… Ku-Kushina-chan?! You're the new Kyuubi?!"

Minato's mind snapped back to his gennin days, when a twelve year old version of himself had found a young fox kit injured in the woods while training. He had nursed the poor thing back to health in his apartment. One morning he had woken up to see, instead of a small red fox in his bed, a naked twelve year old red haired girl holding out a small wooden charm out to him.

"_Thank you for saving me… I can't thank you enough so I thought Id give you this, its my Houshi-no-tama!"_

_Minato blinked, "who are you? What happened to the fox?"_

_The red-head grinned at him, "I am the fox silly, I'm a Myobu! Name's Kushina, and I'm gonna be the Kyuubi one day!"_

Minato smiled, "So you made it to Kyuubi after all?"

Kushina smiled back at him, blushing slightly as she noticed their proximity, "Fastest gaining of tails in my clan's history, I am the greatest Minato-kun!"

Minato smiled at her cheekily, "Obviously, you were able to take out the Hokage after all… knocked him clear onto his back", Minato winced, "and onto a tree root"

Kushina gave a nervous chuckle as she stood and helped the blonde to his feet. Minato couldn't help but stare at the red headed kitsune as she smiled at him.

"Something wrong Minato-kun?" Kushina asked obviously confused by his stare.

He blinked and shook his head, "Nothing, lets get the ceremony over with…"

Kushina cast a sour glance his way, "But its so boring. And besides, I already gave the Hokage my Houshi-no-tama. This whole ceremony is pointless."

Minato shrugged, "Its more for the retainers and local feudal lords to see the alliance officially stated. As my teammate Hiashi here would say," he pointed to the Hyuuga leader who was talking with the elder priest. "Sacrifices must be made for the sake of the Village, Minato-sama" His mocking impersonation sent Kushina into a fit of giggles.

She paused when she noticed his hand had found her own, when had that happened? She risked a look at his face and saw him glancing at her out of the corner of his eye with an odd glassy eyed expression.

'Oh Kami… why is he looking at me like that?' the young Kyuubi thought in confusion. She suddenly blushed as another conversation from their childhood meetings came to her.

_Young Kushina sat on the railing to Minato's balcony as she watched him pace around it muttering. "Ne, Nato-kun, why are ya so upset"_

_The young blond looked up from his pacing to see the fox girl and sighed, "It's the Spring Festival, everybody I know has a date, but I don't even have a girlfriend."_

_Kushina cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Have you even asked anyone?"_

_Minato sighed again, "Yes, none of the girls like me."_

_Kushina thought for a moment and then a wide grin spread across her face, "Well then I'll be your Girlfriend, cause I like you!"_

_Minato sputtered in shock, "What, Really?"_

_Kushina merely nodded smiling._

Kushina blushed and her tails became visible as her emotions got the better of her. She had meant it as a way to cheer him up back then. Now though, the simple statement felt like it meant so much more. She was suddenly not so unwilling to participate in the ceremony.

_A year and a Half Later, Office of the Hokage._

A Young Kakashi leaned into his sensei's office, a small clipboard under his arm, he was not at all surprised to see Minato Namikaze sitting at his desk pouring over the forbidden scroll and his notes on the Rasengan. On the floor in front of the desk lay a large red mass of fur Kakashi knew was Kushina Uzumaki, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Kakashi knocked on the door frame and announced his presence, "Minato Sensei, I have the documents you needed."

Minato looked up from his work and smiled. "Kakashi, that was quicker than I expected," he motioned the young Anbu in "don't just stand in the door come in."

Kakashi nodded and stepped carefully around the sleeping Kitsune sprawled out on the office floor. "Its still odd to me that she sleeps in that form Sensei… she seems so set on fitting in with Ningen that I thought she would prefer to sleep in human form."

Minato stared at the furry body of Kushina for a moment and sighed, "She can't"

Kakashi blinked as he handed the clipboard to his Sensei, "Can't?"

Minato smirked as he saw Kushina's leg twitch and a soft yip escape her mouth as she dreamed of some chase or similar action. He turned to Kakashi and looked over the papers for a moment before continuing, "Kitsune have to concentrate to hold their human form, if they fall asleep or are knocked unconscious they return to their animal form. Except…"

Kakashi caught the slight look of embarrassment on his Teachers face and raised an eyebrow, "except what?"

Minato glanced at his student "unless they are pregnant with a hanyou child, the child's presence anchors the human form for the safety of the baby."

Kakashi looked his Sensei in the eye "she told you that?"

Minato nodded, "we decided to take the next step, we are officially engaged as of this morning." His smile was bright and Kakashi knew he would never forget it.

_The Present – Training ground 7_

Kakashi smiled to himself at the memory of his Sensei and his wife, and looked over to see the reactions of the three gennin as Jiraiya finished his tale. Naruto had fainted and Sakura had exclaimed in surprise and then begun trying to revive Naruto, but Hinata had merely stared at Jiraiya with a calm steady gaze.

Jiraiya blinked at her and questioned, "You knew?"

Hinata nodded. Jiraiya frowned, "For how long?"

Hinata smiled, "When I looked at Yondaime-sama's face on the monument today, they look exactly alike. The village is really quite blind that it is."

Jiraiya laughed, "That it is indeed"


	11. On the Road to the Temple

When Naruto finally came to, and after some brief bursts of excitement and confusion, the process of preparing for the trip to the Hi Inari Taisha began in earnest. Jiraiya and Kakashi, having both been to the complex before, lead the discussion on what would and would not be needed or done. Hinata was not all that surprised to learn that ninjas of Konoha were not well received at the temple since Kushina's sealing. Indeed, Asuma's leaving the 12 guardians had been something of a political distancing move on the part of the temple towards Konoha. Kakashi had given the genin a run-down of etiquette required of them, including, much to Sakura's chagrin, referring to Naruto as "Uzumaki-sama" due to his position as Kushina's son. By morning they had set off, after Hinata had left Kon-kon with a message for her cousin and Ten-ten.

The day was spent mostly with the genin asking questions about Kushina and Minato and the adults answering as best they could as they traveled along the trade road that lead to Uzu-no-kuni.

"Ne, Kakashi-Sensei, how come none of our history books talk about my parents being together." Naruto questioned as he pulled out a trail bar for a snack.

Kakashi glanced back from his book and sighed, "Danzo, one of the elders on the council, pushed through an addendum to the Sandaime's law that squashed a lot of the information concerning Kushina-san, under the guise of village security."

Jiraiya nodded and joined in on the topic, "The old war hawk has used the fear of your mom, and you by extension, to gain power within the village. The idea that the Kyuubi was as much a victim that night as the rest of us would damage his grip on power if it spread amongst the villagers. Rather than fight an uphill battle, He simple crushed all records of Kushina in Konoha prior to that night."

Hinata frowned, "Surely someone would try to reveal the information."

Kakashi nodded, "someone did. And it resulted in the Uchiha massacre."

Sakura and Naruto nearly fell over themselves as they heard that, "Nani?"

Kakashi nodded a sad look on his face, "Somehow, about a year before the massacre, rumors began to circulate that the Uchiha clan could control tailed beasts. This began to make many people think that the Uchiha clan had deliberately summoned the Kyuubi to attack Konoha."

Naruto frowned "But an Uchiha did summon her, Kakashi-sensei"

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, but that Uchiha possessed a Mangekyo Sharingan. Something that the Uchiha clan has only had occur in three members in its history. One of which was after the attack took place."

Hinata gave Kakashi an odd look, "If it was so rare how did the general population find out about it? I know the Hyuuga keep their clan secrets closely guarded, I can not imagine the Uchiha being any less cautious."

Kakashi nodded gravely, "That's just what the Sandaime thought, so he ordered his most loyal ANBU members to investigate the matter, I was ANBU commander at the time, and I asigned my best operative to the case."

Naruto's eyes sparkled "Really? Who was it? Someone we know?"

Kakashi turned a page in his book and waited a moment before answering, "Uchiha Itachi"

Naruto's eyes went wide and he choked on his trail bar, "I-itachi?"

Kakashi nodded, "Ah. He used to be on your guard detail you know naruto, back before the massacre. If I remember correctly he was your favorite bodyguard, He wore a Tora mask back then."

Naruto flailed his arms in shock "That was Itachi?"

Sakura looked equally confused as she asked her own question of her sensei. "How did he go from Naruto's bodyguard to clan-killer?"

Jiraiya was the one to answer, his voice grave as he spoke, "He didn't, Itachi was, and still is, a Loyal Ninja of Konoha." He held out a hand to silence the three gennin as he continued, "Not long into Itachi's investigation it was discovered that Uchiha Fugaku, Itachi and Sasuke's father and head of the clan, was the leak. Itachi further reported that Fugaku was planning on spreading rumors concerning Kushina and Minato's relationship to spread fear that Minato had been in on the attack. When Itachi reported this to Sarutobi-sensei, the elder council ordered Itachi to Infiltrate the Uchiha compound along with Uchiha Shisui and terminate any conspirators."

Jiraiya paused to note the focused expressions on the three gennin and continued, silently asking his Sensei for forgiveness for breaking the silence on this in such a way. "Sensei didn't trust how quick Danzo and the others ordered a removal of a clan so highly prized for its doujutsu. He thought something about the whole scenario stank, so he sent me to shadow Itachi and report on what happened during the confrontation. He was right too, Shisui was a double agent and tried to kill Itachi as soon as they joined up, the poor boy was forced to kill his closest friend that night. Worse it seems Danzo most likely had some connection to Fugaku, because when Itachi arived at the Uchiha compound, after defeating Shisui, the entire clan was there to confront him. They had every intention of killing Itachi for putting loyalty to the village above loyalty to the clan. But, Fugaku soon found that Itachi had gained the Mangekyo from the torment of killing Shisui, and what would have been Itachi's execution became a bloodbath as he fought off the entire clan."

Jiraiya Sighed as he shook his head, "Sasuke was supposed to spend the night with friends that night to keep him safe, but the boy left to show Itachi that he had mastered the uchiha fire Justu. Had the boy stayed with them, the event would have been blamed on Shisui most likely. But, as you know, that didn't happen. Itachi made the split-second decision to take the blame to let his brother grow up believing that his clan was honorable. As Itachi fled, I caught up with him and told him about the rumors id been hearing concerning Akatsuki. He agreed to be my spy in the organization"

Naruto flailed comically as he blurted out his questions, "Wait, then that day in the border town when we were going to find Baa-chan, did you know Itachi was going to be there?"

Jiraiya looked at naruto for a moment before nodding, "Yes, I told them to meet us there. I wanted you to get a feel for how powerful the people after you were."

Naruto sputtered, "Them? Then Kisame is a Konoha spy too?"

Jiraiya nodded and then held up a hand to silence them "Hinata, would you mind taking a look around?"

Hinata complied and silently activated her Byakugan, "there are five of them Jiraiya-sama, they are wearing modified Konoha gear, but I don't see any headbands," She whispered to the sannin

Kakashi pocketed his book and raised his headband, "root operatives, looks as though Danzo found us out. Be ready to fight you three."

The group drew in close to each-other on the road, each genin preparing for the conflict ahead. Hinata drew her sakabatou and set it into a low ready stance, her expression hard as she watched the intruders at the edge of her vision. To her right she could see Sakura channeling chakra into her arms and legs to prepare for the fight ahead. and on her left next to Kakashi and Jiraiya, Naruto stood with a Rasengan ready in his hand, the pulsating ball of energy humming as it waited to be used.

The unknown ninjas soon appeared in the clearing, and the group got the first clear look at their opponents. They all wore identical black versions of the standard chunin garb, but with no markings either of the red spiral or the Konoha leaf. Their faces were covered by white featureless masks similar to an ANBU mask. The leader spoke, and his voice sounded hollow, as if his voice was made by grinding stones together.

"Turn over the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and no one needs to be harmed, Jiraiya-sama"

Hinata responded before the sennin could, "You will forgive us, if we find our trust in your honesty lacking"

The faceless ninja turned to look at the gennin, the dark slits of the mask aimed at Hinata.

"The weak forgotten heir of the Hyuuga desires to threaten? How amusing. Run and hide little girl, we have no time for people like you."

Hinata restrained a retort as she felt the change in Naruto's aura behind her, she could not help but smile however at his words.

"No one speaks to Hinata-chan that way you scum." The hanyou jinchuuriki ground out through clenched teeth as sparks of red chakra leaked out from the rasengan in his hand as it pulsed wildly with furry

"Naruto-kun," Hinata spoke calmly… "Have you ever seen the Jyuuken combined with kenjutsu?"

The boy paused and glanced at her, "uhm… no, but ive only been on missions with you or Neji."

Hinata looked the lead foe in the eye as a steely expression crossed her face, "the this one shall show you what that can do, that she shall" in the next moment she had taken a half step forward, and switched her stance slightly so that the sakabatou was set at her side and nearly parallel to the road. With a pulse of chakra the blade of the sakabatou began to glow the pale blue of an energized jyuuken strike. "Hiten Mitsuryugi ryu…"

The root operatives took a step back and dropped into defensive stances. The leader tried again to cow the young shinobi into retreat.

"oh? So your sword is made of _that_ metal… still what can you hope to accomplish against the five of…" the rest of his sentence was ended before it left his mouth as Hinata closed the distance in a blur of movement, striking several of his tenketsu with her blade with incredible precision.

Hinata landed back next to Naruto and eyed the remaining four ninja with only slight interest as she breathed out the name of her attack out of habit ingrained into her from the three years with Seijuro. "Hakke Ryu Sen"

The Root leader collapsed to one knee as his leg gave out, he growled from behind his mask and barked orders to his fellows. "Kill the others, leave the boy alive, but don't be afraid to take out his limbs if needed, im sure the Kyuubi will regenerate them for him. Leave the Hyuuga to me."

Four pairs of streaks left the clearing, as battles began in earnest between the operatives and the travelers. The lead Root ninja stood shakily as Hinata watched. "You brat… I wont be fooled again by your techniques." He drew a standard Anbu style Kodachi from its saya across his back and assumed a ready stance.

Hinata frowned, a kodachi, if he knew the things a true sword-master knew about matching blades to fighting styles things might become difficult, her sensei's words echoing in her head.

_It was a warm autumn day, and a young blue haired girl stood on a stone in a stream performing katas with a katana as her teacher watched from the shore. Her teacher seemed to be in deep thought for some time before he spoke to his young disciple._

"_Hinata, let us consider a duel between two men of equal skill, one wielding a Katana, the other a Kodachi. Who would have the advantage if they were to fight?" the man, who was of course Himura Seijuro, queried his student._

_Hyuuga Hinata paused in her practice of the Ryu Kan sen, and looked at her sensei. What had brought this up, she wondered. "ano… uhm… the katana has the longer reach so…_

_Seijuro nodded and drew a kodachi from his traveling pack, tossing it to Hinata. "yes, it is shorter in length than a katana. But what else is different between it and a katana?"_

_Hinata held the smaller weapon in her hand for a few moments. She examined it for several seconds before looking over at Seijuro. "ano … "_

_Seijuro shook his head and gently lifted the blades of both weapons so that his shy apprentice was holding both parallel to the ground. "weight Hinata, they differ in weight. The Kodachi is lighter, much lighter, and thus can be used for a more rapid fighting style than its larger, and thus heavier counterpart. In an even battle, position becomes key. Yes the katana has reach over the kodachi, but if the kodachi wielder can force his way inside the opponents guard, his weapon's faster speed becomes the deciding factor. There are many styles of Kenjutsu that favor speed over strength of the individual blow. In the hands of a master of such a style the Kodachi becomes as powerful a weapon as any katana. But… speed has its disadvantages."_

_Hinata blinked, "It does?" she looked at the Kodachi in her hand, noting that it was also reversed edged like its larger cousin._

_Seijuro nodded "a style that focuses on speed by its nature becomes either reaction or pattern driven. The Taijutsu of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans are good examples of both. The Uchiha's intercepting fist is completely dependent on the opponents moves to function, being the ultimate example of 'reactionary' fighting due to the Uchiha's attachment to the power of their sharingan. The Gentle Fist of the Hyuuga, as you know, is pattern and drill driven. Focusing on exact rhythms of movement and position. Now, how do you counter such styles? Disregarding Doujutsu in the discussion for now."_

_Hinata thought for a moment, setting the blades gently on the ground as she considered her sensei's words. "ano… a reaction driven style would be broken by something that causes them to over-extend their stance and leave themselves open to a counterattack. And …" Hinata thought back to what Neji had told her about his bout in the finals against Naruto, "and a pattern driven style is broken by techniques that interrupt the rhythm of the attacks."_

"_Exactly right, now what makes Hiten Mitsuryugi Ryu different form most styles of speed based combat techniques?"_

_Hinata thought over what she had learned so far of the style, both of the individual attacks and how they interacted with each other. Her pales eyes suddenly widening in surprise as she hit __upon a realization. "Its that Hiten Mitsuryugi Ryu is not a reaction or pattern focused style. Its both at once!"_

_Seijuro nodded, "yes, the founder of our style designed the strikes as a pattern system that ends each move in a position to reactionary make a second attack, thus, each batoujutsu of the Hiten Mitsuryugi Ryu has two steps, you are never off guard." He paused and nodded approval of her mental skill in his quiz. "lets take a break for the rest of the day, I feel we should move on from Taka-no-kuni tomorrow, so get some rest Hinata."_

"_Hai Shishou"_

Hinata focused once more on the present as she stared down her foe, who seemed to be performing a medical jutsu to heal his damaged leg, judging from the wisps of green chakra Hinata could see rising from the pathways of his leg. She took careful note of his stance, comparing it to the many fighting styles Seijuro had trained her to recognize.

'He isn't holding the kodachi in a stance that takes advantage of its speed.' She noted in surprise, 'I don't think he's used to wielding a weapon of that length.'

She wasted no time in closing the distance between them and soon the sounds of steel on steel echoed through the clearing. Sure enough, just as Hinata had guessed, the Root ninja was struggling with fight, his leg still was not completely healed from her earlier strikes, and his skill with his sword was lacking. Still he had the advantage of size over her, and he seemed abnormally resilient to damage. Hinata activated her byakugan again and frowned as she observed something she had missed before, the tell-tale signs of all five elements of charkra flowing erratically through his body. She didn't know for certain what that meant, but she had a hunch based off of a conversation she had had with Seijuro's friend Houshi-dono.

"_Hinata-san, have you ever heard of a Gokuo Bunshin?" the elderly mayor asked her as she tended to her training wounds._

"_Ah… no, not that I recall." Hinata replied absentmindedly as she pulled a bandage tight around her upper arm._

"_Not surprising, it was a skill abandoned long ago when Konoha developed the Kage Bunshin." Houshi took an apple and bit into it, chewing for a while before continuing. "The Gokuo Bunshin, or five element bunshin, was the first attempt at a bunshin that could perfectly mimic its creator. It was developed out of the daoist ideas of balance. The thought was that a clone formed equally from all five elements would be capable of more than the normal elemental bunshin at the time."_

_Hinata started to pick up her supplies even as she requested that he continue, "Ah. What was wrong with the technique?"_

_Houshi smiled, "Perceptive, aren't you? The problem was that the bunshin was so hard to control that it precluded the original user from fighting with it. The concentration required is so great it earned itself the name "soul puppet." A person who uses the Gokuo Bunshin in essence has their spirit transferred from their own body, into the body of the bunshin. In the records this was sometimes even forced on people. Due to the Gokuo Bunshin's resistance to damage. So great was the resistance that only leathal force would dispell the bunshin and return the user's spirit to its body."_

Hinata spun under a swing aimed at her head and kicked out, attempting to sweep her opponents leg out from under him. Her opponent twisted away to avoid the kick, jumping back to gain distance from the indigo haired girl giving him such trouble. The root operative frowned, she was much more skilled than Danzo's reports had placed her. She was supposed to be timid and shy, further, she had not been seen for three years so it was assumed that the girl had been branded with the branch seal. Clearly however, the old warhawk's intelligence was wrong, for one, the girl's head was clearly unmarked, with no sign of the subduing seal at all, rendering the fact that Danzo had discovered the secret to triggering it and passed that on to his operatives in case she put up a fight a mute point. The other discrepancy was her steely confidence, she should have been a weak willed wall flower, but she had taken the opening shot and was still controlling the combat as if it were a game. He grimaced as he stood and prepared his next attack

"bitch, you will submit to Danzo-sama's will"

Hinata flipped the sword in her palm and calmly responded "Gomen, but I don't have time to play with you any more, the others need my help."

There was a tremor that pulsed through the region – obviously a side effect of sakura's battle further away. The root agent stumbled, and Hinata took the chance.

"Hiten Mitsuryugi Ryu – Kuzu Ryu Sen!"

Hinata watched as the results of her strike crumbled away into elemental debris, it had indeed been a Gokuo Bunshin, she spent little time considering that however, as she sped off to aid the nearest other fighter, Sakura.


	12. Interdiction

Disclaimer: The Author of this fanfiction does not own Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, or any other anime, manga, our doujin whose characters and themes are used in full or part. The Characters Himura Seijuro and Houshi are creations of the author. This fanfiction is intended for nonprofit use and no money has been made on it.

**-)::(- Interdiction -)::(-**

Sakura lead her foe away from the others, jumping from branch to branch to draw him further in to the thick cedar forests. Her goal was simple, maneuver him to a location were her skills at combat would allow her to control the battlefield. Landing in a rocky copse surrounded by tall heavy trees Sakura knew that this was the best location she was going to find. Turning on her heel she threw a hook punch at the pursuing Root ninja, who still in the middle of his jump had no time to react before he was shot backwards bodily as if struck by a freight train. The ninja slammed into one of the trees with a resounding crack and the splintering of the tree's heavy trunk. Sakura was about to relax when she heard the odd ninja laugh manically

"kehehehe… its been a long time since I've had someone catch me off guard like that. You might just be a minor challenge after all." The Ninja stood, the cracked remains of his mask falling from his face. Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at the man. His face was a chaotic jumble of scars and burns, worst of all was the fact that instead of eyes, only two empty sockets stared back at her. The man's teeth were sharpened much like many of the jonin of Kiri, and his laugh reminded Sakura vaguely of a certain swordsman from years ago. But although he might have born a superficial appearance to Momochi Zabuza, the man before her was obviously not the legendary nuke-nin. Firstly his skin was several shades darker, and second he was quite a bit shorter than the swordsman, at least from Sakura's memory of the Kiri Jonin.

"I don't have time to play with you, ugly. We have an appointment to keep" Sakura figured giving him a chance to respond would be stupid, and so leaped at her foe, chakra scalpels ready. The blind ninja twisted inhumanly out of the way, limbs rotating in ways that Sakura was sure were not possible. His momentum drew his right leg into Sakura's side from below, causing the young medic to wince as the wind was knocked out of her. She tumbled away from him and stood running a hand over her abdomen to check for damage. Finding nothing but bruising she stared at her foe as he untwisted himself from the incredibly contorted position his counter-attack had left him in.

"What the hell are you?" Sakura demanded in utter surprise and confusion

The blind man laughed at her as he settled back into a ready stance, "Me? I'm simply called the Oni, a member of the Root" With this he lunged at Sakura, who soon found herself being driven backwards from a flurry of attacks from impossible angles. I was almost as if the joints in his arms and legs had been modified to swing through much wider arcs than normally humanly possible, the young medic mused. It wasn't like Orochimaru's snake-like body however, as overall limb size and shape remained unchanged. It was becoming very obvious that normal melee combat would not win her the day here. Fortunately, she had not been slack in studying other areas of the ninja profession over the last three years.

Leaping back to place some distance from herself and the twisted creature in-front of her, she began the sequence of hand signs for a Doton Jutsu she had spent the last year and a half working on after Tsunade had determined the fact that Earth element chakra was her primary element. She grinned to herself and hoped that this would at least slow him down.

"Stone Pulse" Sakura whispered, and the ground around her exploded upwards in a widening ring of heaving stone that tore the ground into jagged spires of earth tens of feet in height. The Root Ninja was thrown into the air, double-jointed limbs flailing wildly, and Sakura took a chance and jumped up to deliver a hammer-fist blow to his gut. To her surprise, he made no attempt to block or maneuver away, just like the strike she had landed during his jump earlier in the fight.

'wait a minute… can he only sense me if we're both on the ground?' Sakura wondered, changing her trajectory to land back in a tree.

"Damn it… she got me again… now were did she run off to? I don't sense here nearby." Oni growled out as Sakura's face went into a wide grin.

'perfect' she thought, as she began to weave a subtle auditory genjutsu. She gave her best impression of an evil laugh and grinned as it echoed unnaturally through the trees.

"What the? Were are you ya crazy little brat" the root nin roared in frustration, head darting back and forth in a rather comical fashion as he searched for his prey.

Sakura meanwhile leaped from branch to branch until she was directly over the foe, and without a shout or declaration dropped down to deliver a spine shattering ax kick to the back of the man's neck. Oni dropped to the ground like a lead weight and Sakura landed panting next to him. She grimaced as she assessed her chakra reserves, unhappy with how much she had had to put behind that last kick to ensure success. She turned in shock as she heard the same manic laugh from earlier coming from the shallow crater.

"Kehehehe, that was impressive, if I had been a normal man I would be paralyzed." The man known as Oni stood slowly, a feral smirk across his grotesque features, "Seems like I need to take you seriously, you've figured out my weakness neh?" Sakura squinted in disbelief as she watched a man stand from what should have been a shattered spine. The man grinned and flexed his limbs, "pay attention, cause you will only get to see this once."

Oni shuddered as if dunked in cold water before his body seemed to shift and change. The extremites of limbs sprouting spikes of rock, joints seeming to crack and reveal liquid flame within. His empty eye sockets now seemed filled with water, and lightning danced across the tips of the stone sparks. With a feral roar he bent into a hunched position on to all fours, even as his arms elongated to reach the ground. Sakura stepped back from the monster before her eyes wide in shock. Oni's face was now even more animalistic than before, and he leered down at her with a sadistic grin.

"Oi, bitch, you should really feel special, no one gets to see this form unless they are deemed to strong to defeat with anything less." inside his own mind however, Oni was less confidant, '_I need to end this quickly, the elemental instability of this form of the Seireikugutsu will kill me if I take too long. I thought Danzo-sama said the gennin would be easy targets...'_

Sakura had only a split second to jump away as the monstrosity before her lunged forward, clawed hands swiping through the tree she had been standing before mere moments earlier. She whistled despite herself, and landed on one of the spire like protrusions of rock she had created earlier in the fight. She eyed him with the critical focus of a medic, looking for any weakness, and noticed something she was sure any other fighter would have missed, though she was unsure how to exploit it, the farthest points of his body from his torso were degrading, literally dissolving away into dust. It was slow, but if it continued she mused, he would only be able to fight for a few minutes longer before he was rendered armless and legless.

'_Even if that's true,' _Sakura thought, as she jumped to a new earthen spire to put further distance between them, '_He appears to be made of stone... how do I hurt something made of rock?' _her thoughts were interrupted when a familiar voice echoed through the clearing, making here almost jump for joy.

"Do Ryu Sen!" the now familiar wave of kenatsu racing along the ground struck Oni from the side and sent him flying into one of the massive trees of the area, pieces of wood and rock from his body flying outward in a spray of shrapnel and debris.

Sakura smiled as she called out the name of her new partner "Hinata! When did you get here?"

Hinata sheathed her sword into its black saya and smirked, "Just now, I dealt with their leader and followed the shock-wave from your stone pulse to find you."

Sakura nodded "Well I'm glad you made it. Hitting this guy is like punching a boulder."

Hinata glanced at Sakura "isn't that how Tsunade-sama trained you?"

Sakura gave a mock glare "those boulders didn't move, or punch back."

Hinata nodded, "I suppose not, so you need him to be stationary? I have an idea."

Oni growled as he stood up from his latest hit, the time on his technique was slipping away, and now it was two on one. He growled as he channeled his energy to attack the newcomer from behind as the two girls talked. He burst forward in rage, intent on crushing the hyuuga. Even as he swung his blow, Sakura's yell of warning still only halfway out her mouth, Hinata simply flickered out of existance. Oni's eyes widened in shocked recognition. '_Shinsoku! Impossible! That means she trained with...'_

"Sou Ryu Sen!" Hinata appeared behind Oni, blade and saya striking at his stone legs, shattering the rock limbs and sending him skidding forward his arms shattering from the force of his landing. His slide stopped at the feet of a now grinning Sakura, who loomed over the once fearsome root operative.

Sakura pulled her fist back, a green and blue glow shining around it. "Tsui no Do-jin" the punch came with such force that the entire clearing buckled, dropping inward a good seven feet and Oni's body shattering like glass. Sakura looked up at Hinata and smirked "you were right, just like in training."

**-)::(- **

**author notes**

some explanations of things

seireikugutsu: _Soul Puppet_ – an alternate name for the Gokuo Bunshin. Refering to the fact that it essentially becomes a remote control body.

Oni's elemental form: the Gokuo Bunshin requires balance, it is possible to purposefully destablize the technique for a boost in power, but doing so for long endangers the wielder.

Shinsoku: _God speed_ – the term used in Rurouni Kenshin to refer to the speed Hiten Mitsurugi allows its users to obtain.

Kenatsu: the ability to release energy from ones blade to hit at a distance

Do Ryu Sen: a strike to the ground which sends a wave of Kenatsu and the opponent

Sou Ryu Sen: A batou-jutsu using both sword and sheath (Saya)


	13. Origin of the Uzumaki

**AN:** hello everyone, sorry for the long wait on this, and on the delay on Tasogare, but I quite literally had my computer implode, taking all my files and data with it. After using my tax refund to replace the device with a spiffy new system I essentially had to start over with my work on current chapters in both stories. You readers will notice references in this chapter to stuff from a third anime that is neither Naruto nor Kenshin... Ill leave it up to you to determine what you think those references mean for now. there have even been a few in previous chapters.

as always, I own nothing but the tale, so get off my case! 

_**Hagakure Chapter 13: The Youkai world and the Human world.**_

Naruto leapt backward to avoid the blast of water from his opponent's jutsu, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. the man he was facing - at least he assumed it was a man - had not spoken once yet in the five minutes their fight had progressed. even jutsu's were performed without fanfare or outward comment. Now, Naruto knew that calling out a jutsu's name was not, strickly speaking, a requirement for its completion; his own skill with the Kage-bunshin was proof enough of that fact. However, the amount of skill and training required to wield so many different jutsu sans incantation was staggering. taking a few moments to focus on calling up his fox-fire on his dominant arm he readied a rasengan to use, glad for the aura's ability to stabilize the orb without the need for clones. ducking under his foes guard as he was thrown off balance by a sudden tremor that Naruto knew could only have come from Sakura, he drove the spinning torrent of chakra into the man's exposed gut. Naruto found himself grimacing as the empowered rasengan ate into the man's flesh in a burning spray of blood and gore for a few moments before tossing the corpse several feet through the air to land unceremoniously on its head with a bone breaking snap that signified a now shattered neck.

He looked around him at the remains of the battle and frowned, oufuda, and other implements of the old ways were strewn across the field of combat, many still glowed from recent activation. If he did not know any better, Naruto would have assumed the man had been an over zealous Taijiya, but that seemed quite unlikely considering the rarity of youkai in the time of ninja. he paused in his consideration as his nose picked up the sent of the girls entering the clearing

"Woah! whats with the papers all over the place?" Sakura's voice cut the silence, he turned to see her peeling one of the man's oufuda off a tree, eying it with suspicion.

"Naruto-kun? these aren't exploding tags are they?" Hinata was leaning around Sakura to examine the talisman with her. both seemed quite intrigued by the thing.

Naruto sighed as he shook his head "its an oufuda, its a ward to keep demons out... or seal one in, in this case, he tried to trap me in the clearing. they don't work properly on Hanyou, but they still end up being painful as hell."

Hinata raised an eyebrow at this, "Oufuda as in a Buddhist prayer scroll? those actually work?"

Naruto nodded as the girls began to remove the oufuda from the trees "yeah, but very few people should even know how to properly charge them to work. Its not just a simple task of writing the prayer on the talisman. the user has to be able use their reiki."

Sakura eyed one of the talismans with a critical eye. "hey... do you think we could use these on the nogitsune? if they work like you say they do, these could come in handy."

Hinata smiled as she saw Naruto's face go from annoyed to stunned and then to the fox like grin he so often wore. "Sakura-chan, I think he liked that idea. Lets be careful removing these then, whe wouldnt want them to fail because we damaged them."

they worked in silence for some time, the girls sorting and storing the oufuda as Naruto instructed them. Once the talismans had been removed they set up a perimeter to wait for the jounin and sannin to rejoin the group. in the midst of tending to each others minor injuries, Sakura turned to Naruto with a thoughtful expression on her features.

"hey, Naruto, why would this guy have even been using these oufuda? I thought no one knew about your mom, or that you were a hanyou. these wouldn't work on a human Jinchuriki would they?" Sakura gestured with one over her gloved hands at the stack of sutra scrolls laid on a nearby log as she tightened a bandage on naruto's arm. Hinata and Naruto both frowned in thought, the question was a troubling one, and one they all had a gut churning feeling would rise up to haunt them again. the obvious answer was that Danzo was telling his recruits heavily guarded village secrets, and he was so far able to do so with absolutely no discernible leaks of those facts. they all knew that if even rumors of Naruto being the actual child of Kyuubi and the Fourth had spread in Konoha prior to his entrance into the academy his chances of surviving to the present would have dwindled severely. This meant that somehow, Root was capable of ensuring absolute secrecy, an achievement that, despite the animosity between themselves and Root, they had to admit was impressive - impressive and troubling.

After a few moments Naruto shook his head sourly, "I don't know, these things are keyed to work specifically on Kitsune, and that's a lot harder to make than a standard oufuda. they could have just been made to keep me from drawing out mom's chakra, but the bastard didn't seem surprised when my own chakra reacted poorly to them. So I think he knew i was a hanyou."

they fell back into silence for a while, then Hinata looked over at Naruto with a searching expression. "ano, Naruto-kun, this may seem a bit forward, but a question has been bothering me for some time. Kitsune are always referred to as fire spirits, but your clan name means maelstrom, and the stories of the battle the night of your birth say Kushina-san used primarily wind and lightning attacks. Why?"

Naruto leaned back and held his arms behind his head as he looked up at the sky. "well its because not all of our ancestors were kitsune."

Hinata and Sakura looked at him in surprise, "not all kitsune? but how is that possible?" Sakura questioned. Hinata nodded in agreement, the statement confused her as well.

naruto gathered his thoughts before continuing, this explanation deserved to be thorough. "Youkai species aren't really "species" like an actual animal's, its more accurate to call them clans, with the form they take being very similar to a human clan's kekkei genkai. unions between clans do happen, but they aren't all that common. Like a lot of human clans with unique abilities, many youkai clans are very protective of the purity of the blood line, part of the reason Hanyou like me used to be hunted down and killed. Not all youkai hold as strict a view, this is especially true if they were not raised with the aid of their clan, an orphan for example."

Naruto saw them nod in understanding and so he continued his explanation a small smirk on his face, "The Uzumaki clan's patriarch was an example of this, He mated a storm youkai who he had interacted with on many occasions. they were both orphans, so neither of them were really taught to avoid interacting with the other. Although according to their memoirs they first met when she attacked him for a slight they did not record."

Sakura's eyebrow rose, "She attacked him and they ended up together?"

Naruto nodded, "Its not all that uncommon actually. Many youkai find strength and self-reliance attractive and a … er … valuable trait in a partner. from what I understand of the story, she kidnapped his friends to lure him into a trap to get her revenge, he saved them and that made her fall for him. though she never told him till years later. since she was a storm youkai, she had a powerful connection to the wind and lightning elements, and that connection overpowered his fire affinity."

a new voice spoke up from the edge of the clearing. "Ah, talking about your family history eh Naruto?"

the genin turned to see kakashi leaning against a tree with his visible eye smiling, a worn out Bull panting next to him. the large dog wuffed at the group as it laid down at its masters feet.

Naruto nodded with a grin, "So i guess mom told you about them?"

the copy ninja shrugged, a bland look now on his face. "My family has some ties to that ancient time period as well. Shiro-inu aren't all that common now-a-days you know."

Naruto paused and then nodded slightly as if he had understood Kakashi's hidden message before asking, "Any-way sensei how was your fight?"

with a flip of a page Kakashi spoke, "I used Kamui."

Naruto blinked, "eh?"

the three genin looked like each wanted to ask the masked man more, but the sound of foot steps brought each ninja's attention to the new arrivals, for there were several people approaching. the metallic ringing of a shakujou and the clack of several pairs of geta accompanied the figures approach. as the group exited the trees the ninjas relaxed as the first man to appear was none other than Jiraiya. on either side of him were a pair of monks with simple robes that left the torso bare. and behind him a third much older and more wisened monk in a full Kesa carried the Shakujou the group had heard.

The monk with the staff spoke first his voice sounding like calm flowing water. "This is the heir then, Jiraiya of the temple of mount Myoboku?"

Jiraiya nodded, his face set in a neutral expression, "That is correct, Houshi-sama"

the elderly monk looked the boy over, "He is not Kitsune, I see no tail" it was a statement, but the command to explain was plain to all.

Jiraiya nodded "Kushina-dono mated with Minato, our Yondaime"

the two younger monks, who had been standing in slightly tensed positions relaxed as one as Jiraiya spoke, the elder monk nodding sagely "He is Hanyou then. that is fine. come we must leave before it becomes dark, The temple is waiting for your arrival Uzumaki-sama."

the group stood to leave, but they couldn't shake the feeling that things hadn't gotten cleared up completely just yet. Hinata frowned, her thoughts wondering back to Naruto's talk about youkai mating behavior, when this was over she resolved, she and naruto would have a spar... date... thing. She shook her head, youkai were confusing.

****

AN: and there it is, yes we missed three of the fights - trust me we will hear more of them Tasogare chapter 3 will be out soon


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